My boys, and Guardian Angels

As posted last week, LuckyL went down to Natal for the weekend, going to the Sharks v Blue Bulls rugby on Friday night, and the Durban July Horse race on Saturday. All went well. His team won the rugby, and his horse is still running in the Durban July!
What I didn't know, till I got home on Friday afternoon was that GMan had also gone down to Durban. He had been asked by two girls who went to the Durban July to travel with them. So he and LuckyL got together down there.
The plan was for them to travel back on Sunday, but for some reason, probably to get a jump start on the traffic, they left Durban at around midnight, Saturday. Now, I've got no problem with driving through the night, in fact, I preferred it when the kids were little, as they would sleep most of the way, making it easier on me and the Princess. The other upside is less traffic. However, what little traffic there is, needs to be watched much more closely. There is always the risk of people nodding off, and veering across the road in front of you, cars / trucks stopped in the middle of the lane for no reason / breakdown. So you need to be vigilant whenever you get near to another road user, hen driving long distance through the night.

So, Sunday morning, and me and the Princess did not sleep well over night. Don't know why. We get up, and start to get done, and the boys walk in! We didn't know they had decided to leave early, so were surprised to see them.
Then LuckyL tells us the story of the trip home, and the accident. My hearts stops! FUCK!!!

Seems like GMan was driving - he's a night owl so was the best person for the job at that point. He also didn't drink any alcohol in the 24 hours preceding the trip, so he was good to go.  Seem that just outside Mooi River (LIU) they were coming up to another car. Speed control was locked in at 118km/h, so allowing for inaccuracies of the clocks, they were probably doing 110km/h. At the last minute the smaller car changes lanes, right in front of them! All GMan had time to do was hold tight onto the steering wheel, and swerve to his right. The front left of the Toyota Fortuner they were driving in hit the back left of the other car (neither of them knows what car it was). GMan says they got airborne, went onto the gravel in the middle island, and were on two wheels, and he (thankfully) did not over correct, and brought the car back onto it's wheels, safely, and stopped. The other car had spun out, and landed up in the bushes on the island. He had stopped about 50 meters from the point of impact.  The three of them checked themselves for injuries - nothing. They then got out of the car, and started to walk back towards the other car. Time to go check on the people in the other car, and swap details. They then heard a male voice screaming "I'm going to kill them!", followed by a woman screeching "No, don't, leave them alone", and another male voice shouting "Let's go kill them!!!"

At this point LuckyL, GMan, and B, LuckyL's mate from work decided that retreat was a good idea. Fuck those clowns for a joke, You never know it they high on drugs, carrying guns..... (If it was me in my younger day, I would have been in there, with my 9mm, and trust me, if the guy made a move to assault me, I would have blown him away, but that's me, 20 years ago!).
Anyway, the 3 of them got back into the car, which was still drive-able, and drove down the highway for a few hundred meters till they found a sign with a police number, and decided to call it.
The police came out quite quickly, and took their statement. He then had them follow him back down the highway towards the accident scene. He made them wait about 50 meters away, while he went to check out the situation. In a few minutes he called them on their cellphone, and told them the people from the other car were fucking mad, and out of control. Not a good idea for them to go any closer. So they should leave. The boys drove past the accident site, traveling back towards Durban, at the next off-ramp they crossed over, and then drove back towards Johannesburg, again passing the accident scene, not stopping or anything.

So, as far as I am concerned, they handled the whole affair in the correct manner. I am also convinced that they had Guardian Angels looking out for them, as the final outcome could have been much more serious than it was. I have no idea what went on out there, and have to take the information as given by my boys. What happened in the other car, I have no idea. But I am thankful that the boys are all fine. Whatever the outcome is, and the costs with regards repairs, so be it. B is insured, there may be some extra excess because GMan is under 25, but that's life.

Quite serious damage, but had it been a smaller car, I think the result would have been terrible. In fact, there would have been serious injuries....
Thank you Lord for their protection!

Salagatle!

And then it exploded

So, I was looking at a better year than last year. I had decided I would be leaving my current employer, and was stoked to get involved in what would be my new place of employment. I had plans to get a whole lot of maintenance done at home......

Since the Matriarch moved into the retirement village, it has become my responsibility to pick her up every Saturday evening and take her to church. No problem. Saturday the 7th January was no different, except that she had offered a friend at the home a lift to church with us, as her usual transportation was not available.
i picked them up at about 5.30 pm, in my Toyota Corolla. Due to the fact that the friend has in the past had a massive stroke, it's easier for her to sit in front, with mom at the back. Off we go. Church is from 6 - 7. We left the church at between 6.55 and 7pm. Nice casual drive back to the village. As I am approaching an intersection, ans stop street, I do what I always do. Check speedo (60km/h), move foot to brake pedal, and at the same time check rearview mirror so that if there is someone following me, I can see if they note that I am slowing down. No car behind me. I look front - and the world ended!!!
Coming at me, in my lane, at a very high speed I see a car! WTF! is probably all that went through my mind, and I floored the brake pedal. And the whole world exploded. It's a fantastic thing that it all seems to be in slow motion, but is in fact a split second and the destruction that takes place is almost unbelievable!
The car stops, and there's this deadly silence. Mom is lying between the seats, with her head more or less on the gear lever. I try to lift her, but there is not response. I turn to open my door, it unlocks, but wont budge, so I kick the crap out of it - open. Get out, rune around the car to open the passenger doors. They are locked from inside. Run back around, get in the car - reach over, unlock both doors, try ans help mom again - nothing, get out run around - open both doors - check the lady in front, looks OK???? - look down at mom - not looking OK, reach in through the back door to see if I can help her up from there - and I see a steel pin stuck right through her left leg - ans I know I cant do anything.......

Run back around, feel around under her head where I remember putting my cellphone, find it, and dial the Princess! By now, people are coming to help, and two ladies ask me to stand aside, and I do. Light up a smoke (no, i didn't think of the tank full of petrol - WTF!).

Stepping back, I do a quick assessment of the situation. The driver of the other car has climbed out - no injuries that I can see. I ask the nearest to me to make sure he does not run away. i notice that from the point of impact, my car traveled backwards at least 20 meters! How fast was this fucker driving?
People have already called for assistance. ow truck drivers arrive - and pass out blankets, cushions, and first aid kits!! Awesome. Next to arrive - after a while - paramedics, that's good, cause I really need them to work on the two ladies in the car. The local Community Police Forum people arrive, and immediately one of them is tasked to attach themselves to the driver of the other car. Make sure he has nothing to eat or drink, and does not leave before the cops get there.

Next to arrive, ambulances - soon after the paramedics, then, later, the firebrigade, and much later, the SAPS. (Where the fuck were they?).

Anyway, after more than an hour of working on her, they got mom into an ambulance, her frined in another one, and we all went off to the hospital. GMan, summoned by the Princess had arrived, and between the teo of them they sorted out the stuff in the car, and arranged to have it towed. And then followed us to the hospital.

This was my Toyota Corolla

The other car - A VW Jetta, older model

At the scrap yard

Now I know why me chest hurts - check that steering wheel

Chest 1 - 0 Steering wheel

Mom's arm

So, overall I got off lightly. Cracked a bone in my left wrist, and have a hairline crack through the sternum. Not that it's not sore, going to take a while to heal. And I had bruises all over.
Mom shattered her wrist, hence the brace in the foto above,and broke her left leg, above the knee, steel pins and plates, and smashed the dashboard with her face - you have no idea how black and blue her face was, and loads of bruises etc. We now on day 20, and she is still in hospital.
Moms friend - Broken left wrist - has a brace similar to moms. Plenty broken ribs - rhs - And they had to insert a plate and a whole lot of screws to fix a bunch of broken ribs, and repair a hole in her lung ( caused by the ribs), and loads of bruises. The scariest was that she went into some kind of shock induced coma, and was non-responsive to any interaction at all for just over a week. But now she's doing great, and should be home soon. Mom has to do a week or so of rehab, after she leaves hospital, before she can go home.

I spoke to the cop who came to the scene that night. He says the other driver was not drunk. But, he quickly assesed that he was on drugs, and arrested him, and took him for a blood test. He would have spent the weekend in jail, and probably released on bail only Monday sometime. Now we wait for the results. I have to call the cop soon for an update, and so tat I can get some info to initiate the Road Accident Fund Claim.

We survived - I am very blessed to have come off so lighlty, but would gladly take all the injuries from my mom, and her friend if I could, to spare them the pain they have had to suffer the past 3 weeks.

More to follow as it unfolds.

Salagatle!

So, I need to replace my car.....

After the accident, GMan brought me his car to use as a trade in. That's the VW Passat that I've been writing about, and have had so much shit with. He's getting a company car, so didn't need his own anymore. Anyway, between LuckyL and myself and the internet, it took one visit to a second hand dealer near the house, and a second visit to another dealer a bit further away, and I bought a Mitsubushi Outlandr. R60k trade in for the VW (that's R35k below trade price) and paid the rest in from the insurance payout for the Toyota, and I have transport. It's bigger, has a descent bonnet, and is also automatic. Just thirsty on petrol, but what the hell.

My "new" Wheels.

2005
Make    Mitsubishi
Model    Outlander
Variant    2.4 gls at
Price (new)    R 251,900
http://www.um.co.za/specifications/mitsubishi_outlander_2_4_gls_at_%282003%29.aspx

However, my insurance covers me for a rental car for a few weeks, so I have been driving tht for now, but have to take it back tonight. It's a VW, 1.6 Polo, auto, and gives around 7.4l/100km!!! Awesome car, 6 speed auto box, very comfortable - but I couldn't afford one anyway.

So, from tonight, I drive my new car, and LuckyL is back in his Opel. He's been driving my car since we bought it - just so we could iron out any defects, and while GMan was using his car waiting for his BRAND NEW JAGUAR to be delivered (more on this in another post).

Salagatle!

LuckyL's car - the saga continues

Ok, so in a previous post I deliberated on the problems we had with the car, and how I managed to kind of sort it out. Had no problems driving down to the coast with it, in fact, we managed 14.3km/lt. (am I repeating myself here?) No matter. What is important is that the problem is still there. If the car is started when hot, and you a) don't wait for the lights to run through the test circuit, or b) the car does not fire up immediately, then the warning light are back.
Basically, I think it's got something to do with the heat sensors on the car. Maybe a broken / loose wire. Maybe a faulty sensor. Maybe, and I'm almost certain here, something was broken / disconnected / damaged when the shop did the service to the starter motor.

Will have to take some time out to check it out, but for now, it's going OK so I'm not too bothered.

Salagatle!

LuckyL's car

So, in a previous post I mentioned the problems we have had with LuckyLs car.
Here is a brief synopsis of events:-

The car was running fine. No problems at all, apart from a sticky starter every now and then. As he was traveling to the coast with 3 friends for their matric year end, I decided to do some preventative maintenance. Two new tyres on the front. Then, send it to the mechanic for a starter service (better than waiting for it to break) and while it's there, an oil change service - at 148000 km it's due anyway. We also booked it for a tow bar fitting for the following Tuesday as they were taking the trailer down with them.
Get the car back from the mechanic, and the shit starts. The "spanner" warning light comes on, as does the "anti-skid" light, which, when activated mean there is something wrong, so the car goes into limp mode - maximum speed is reduced to around 80kmh, and rev's limited to 4000rpm.

Take the car back to the shop. They put it onto the computer, and error P0340 comes up - "Cam belt tension sensor faulty". Yea right. This is Saturday morning. I call all the Opel dealers. Cost R 2200 - availability maybe 3 - 4 days from ordering. RIGHT!!! I go online, call around and find a place in Pretoria Opel A.S.A.P., they have stock, original parts, R1300. What time do you close? 12.30 - OK, it's 11.30, see u in a few..... And off we go. Thanks to the Garmin we drove straight there, and found what we needed.

Monday morning, deliver said part to the mechanic. A few hours later he calls, same fault. Yea right - I collect the car - Tuesday we take it for the tow bar, thereafter back to the mechanic. Now we are running out of time. Crank sensor is removed and checked. Fine. Wheel sensors checked, one has moved and wires have rubbed through onto the brake disk. Remove - repair - refit.  CV sensors checked. Fine. And still the light comes on. By Wednesday afternoon I was getting desperate - LuckyL and his mates were to leave Thursday morning at 5 am. The mechanic says, it must be the cam belt, and tensioner. Liik in the service book - yup, this was supposed to be replaced at the 150000km service - so maybe thats it. Phone around. Everyone is closed.
Thursday morning early, drop LuckyL off at the mechanic, and I go to work. Plan is that as soon as the car is ready, he leaves, picks up his mates, and drives to the coast.
By 12.30 am, it was obvious that the problem was not resolved. Cam belt and tensioner replaced, and still we had the same error. So I tell him to drive home, call the Princess, and take her car. As it is they are 6 hours + late in leaving, and with the roads busy, and rain predicte, they would be arriving after dark.
So he does, and he goes. In the meantime the mechanic has a chat with the Opel workshop supervisor about the proble, and he says thay had something similar recently. Seems that the computer got confused, and would not reset and kept showing the same error. So thay disconnected the battery, and the computer, left it for 24 hours, reconnectd everything, and the car was fine.
Ok, so I will try that.

The Princess goes to work with LuckyL's car Friday morning. When she left, the warning light was off!! That afternoon when she leaves the office - same! Great. She stops at the shop on the way home, is inside for maybe 10 minutes, comes out, starts the car and the fucking warning lights are back!?!?!?!?!?

Friday night, I disconnect the batter and computer. Saturday afternoon, 20 or so hours later, I reconnect everything. Start the car - no warning lights!!! I drive 1 km to the filling station. Switch off. Fill up. Start the car - no warning lights!!!!!!! Drive to the bottle store - 6 km - and I push th car - I have a feeling about this now. Stop, go in, buy some stuff, come out - maybe 6 - 7 minutes, get in - start the car - warning lights are back on. Drive to the club, go in for 30-40  minutes, go back out, start the car - warning lights off! Thats it then, the lights only seem to come on when the car is started when hot, not when it's cold / been standing long enough to cool down. - Did it again a few times on Sunday when the Princess to the car to work.

I relay this information to the mechanic, and drive the car down to him Monday morning. Leave the car there and ask him to please get it sorted by the end of the week. I need this car to be ready for us to go to the coast with. Even   if he has to take it to the Opel dealers.

At 4.30pm, I have not heard anything yet. Princess asks if I have called him yet, and I say no, figure if he had news he would have called me. Will wait for Tuesday. 5.40pm, he calls.  Says "Come fetch this piece of shit!" "Why", I respond, "I don't want it, you keep it!". Anyway, he says the car is fixed, I can come fetch it. So me and the Princess drive through and she drops me off and goes back home to prepare dinner. I chat with the mechanic.

So, at some point he was sitting int the car, with his other mechanic under the hood. He would turn the key to start while the other guy would wiggle wires, and plug points, and stuff, to see if it was a faulty wire / connection, which was making and breaking. At some point the dude under the hood decided to wiggle the computer, and nearly burned his hand off!!! So he grabs a cloth, wets it, and uses this to hold the computer so he can wiggle it. AND THE FUCKING WARNING LIGHTS GO OFF!!!!! Lets' go, and they come back on, each time as the car is started of course.

Put the wet cloth back - off, take it away - on!!!!
So they loosen the computer plate from it's mounting, and move it away from where THE STUPID FUCKING GERMAN DESIGNERS DECIDED THE BEST PLACE TO MOUNT IT IS AGAINST THE ENGINE as opposed to the firewall or wheel arch as pee the Chinese / Koren / Japanese designers!!!!!

Takwe the car for a run. Get it hot. Switch off. Start it, no warning lights, off, / on, off / on..... lights are forever gone.

So, back at the workshop the make a heat displacement plate. Metal plate wrapped with double layer of asbestos cloth, and mounted between the computer box and the engine, and the problem is solved. Seems that, coincidentally it happened at this time, the heat resistant materials inside the computer (ECU) box is breaking down, and coupled with the engine heat, and increased temperature of the climate, the hot environment is causing the ECU to give out a warning. Fetched the car, took it home, ran it ragged, start / stop on and on - no problem.

So, after spending a lot more money than I planned to, and LuckyL having to take the Princess's car on holiday, and now us having to take LuckyL's car on holiday, it's all sorted. But who do I have to thank for the trouble? Those stupid moronic German Designers that decided to save 75c (US) on a shorter harness, and monted th ECU on the side of the engine!!

Salagatle!

12/12/2011

Been a while (again) since I posted anything here. Well, anything worth reading I suppose. But hey, I also got stuff to do you know! Anyway, here's an update on the status of stuff, and if I am repeating anything, tough!
The Matriarch is now comfortable in her new home, settled, and making friends. The house is sold, and registered under the new owners, so that's also sorted. I bought her car from her for the amount offered to her by the second hand dealers, and then, a month later, sold it for a small profit! Every Saturday evening I pick her up, and take her to church. This last weekend I fitted a sliding Xpanda security door (LIU) to her patio door. They all say it's not really necessary, that it's safe, etc, blah, blah, blah, but if you come from an unsafe environment, there is no way you buying into that shit, so I fitted it for her, and now if she wants to she can sleep with the patio door open, or, when she goes out during the day, she dos not have to close up / lock up everything, her home and stuff is safe. Was a bit of a challenge fitting it, especially as I was on my own, but I got it done - good.

LuckyL has had a bit of ad luck with his car - just as I was bragging that he made such a good buy. So, We had 2 new tyres fitted - R 1750 (including wheel alignment), we had the starter serviced (was sticking occasionally, so cheaper to service it now than wait for it to break) and we had the car serviced - 148000km, needed to be done anyway - R 2500, and all this so that he could be safe going down to Ballito for the matric vacs. Oh, and we had a tow bar fitted - R 1950.

get the car back fro the service, and it starts giving error codes on the dashboard. Take it back to the garage. Turns out that the warning light is for a faulty Cam position sensor. OK, call around - Opel - R2200 - 4 days to come from the factory. OPEL A.S.A.P. in Pretoria - R 1300, and he has stock. It's Saturday morning, but we scream through to get it. Monday morning deliver to the mechanic. He fits it - still shows an error. Tuesday and Wednesday we do a million tests, changes, repairs, no help. Thursday morning we fit a new cam-belt and tension pulley. Same shit. By now I know we got shit, and as he was supposed to leave Thursday morning, we let him leave, at 1.15 in the afternoon, with the Princesses car, and trailer in tow!
Friday, and the mechanic says take off the battery terminals, and unplug the computer, leave over noight, and reconnect. Could be that the computer is now confused with all the errors and changes, and maybe needs to be reset.
Funny thing I identify though - if the car has been standing for a few hours (ie it;s cold) it starts and there is no warning light. Then you drive it for a while, stop to pick up something, and then start the car again after say 5 / 10 minutes, the fucking lights come on!!!! Anyway, I do the battery / computer thing, and Saturday afternoon, affter fitting the door for the Matricah, I reconect all the bits, start the car, and it's OK! Great, drive to the petrol station, 2 km away, stop. Fill up. Start, no problem. Great! Drive to the bottle store, push the car a bit, 8 km away. Stop. Go inside, buy some stuff, come out (6 minutes maybe?) and start the car - fucking light is back. Go home. Leave the car for 45 miutes - now it's cold again, start the car, no light.

OK - so I have discovered that the light only comes on if you are starting the car when it's hot. Should make it easier for the mechanic to fault find, with assistance from the Technical Manager from OPEL assisting. Here's hoping - I dropped off the car this am, and need it back by Thursday, as Friday is a public holiday here, and we want to leave for our vacation on Sunday!!!!

OK, so the Princess is using my car, and I'm commuting on the bike.......Fucking cars with fucking stupid ECU's! Gimme a pre 80's muscle car any day!!!!

So, for most of this year I was telling management that if they don't allow me to take leave during school vacations, which happen to coincide with company quarter ends, I will take my leave in December. Not sure if they thought I was joking, but 6 weeks ago I put in for leave from 19th Dec to 3rd January, and I still have another 8 days due to me before end January!!! When I informed management that I had put in the application, I also informed them that if they did not approve it, I would go on leave anyway, and we could sort it out with the CCMA (LIU) afterward!!! Needless to say, it has not been officially approved online, but neither has it been declined, so I go on leave, as of Thursday this week!!! Princess managed to arrange free accommodation with her boss in his apartment on the coast, so I'm looking forward to some serious "do nothing" chilling for a few weeks.

On the transport front, apart from LuckyL's car, my old Toyota is also gettin gto the end of it's life, but I need to nurse it along for a while longer - no finances for replacing that now. I've put all the motorbikes up for sale though, LuckyL's Aprilia RS 125 - he does not ride it anymore anyway, my Yamaha XJR 1200, or his XJR 1200, we need to keep one of them in the family for occasional rides, and. like now, when we short of one car.

I've also started to clean out 'stuff" in the garage. I've given away  boxes of tools I don't need (old stuff, miming tools, inherited from a friends late dad) really big stuff that can only be used really in industry, or on farms. A box full of lathe cutting tools. A couple of old Micrometers (still in inches), and so on. When I get back from vacation, going to do more cleaning out - will do a coule of trips to the antique shop to sell of some old stuff, as well as the local Cash Crusaders / pawn shop, to get rid of other unwanted stuff just stored in the garage - bicycles, bird cage, fish tank, hi-fi stand, double bunk bed, double bed with mattrass... fuck there is a whole houshold of stuff in the basement and garage. Going to clean out, and pocket the cash.
Then I'm getting into the stuff upstairs - the study / library has become a storeroom for stuff. No, I have no idea what it is, but it's going - Dump / pawn / trash / donate - whatever. There is also stuff in the safe that I know I am never going to use / wear / look at / bother with. Need to find a new home for that, as well as some of the stuff in the bar - loads of shit to get rid of. Suppose I'm heading towards a minimalistic lifestyle, makes more sense - hell we work all our lives to buy "stuff" which, one day we realize we really don't need / want / adds no value to our lives. Fuck it - time to clean up!
OK, that was a long paragraph!

Back in a bit - need a smoke.

OK, so on the home front - I fired the gardener, and got a new one. You would think these morons would appreciate a steady, regular job. No way, they start to skip a day here, come late the next ... so I sent him in his moer, and told he he can starve next to the road along with the rest of his brothers. Then I had a chat to my neighbor who has a gardener in twice a week, and got this guy to come in on Saturdays. Didn't turn up this week, but probably due to the fact it had been raining most of Thursday and Friday, and looked like rain on Saturday morning. Hope he comes in next week, or else there will be a jungle of lawn by the time we get back from our vacation.

GMan - well, he joined us for dinner on Saturday, and seems like he might join us for Xmas down at the coast. His girlfriend is in the UK, visiting with her mom and brother and step dad. Other than that, no other news on him.

Enough for now - will post more, if I feel like it, whilst sitting on the deck in Ballito, watching the sea......
Later all

Salagatle!

LuckyL

Not sure if I am repeating myself here, but I don't think so.
LuckyL turned 18 recently, and so we were hunting for a car for him. When GMan turned 18, I spent ZAR25k on his first car. No, you don't get much for that kind of money, but if you shop around you can get a reliable, strong car. And we did. He sold it a year later for exactly what we paid for it, so no problem there!

LuckyL decided he didn't want a ZAR25k car, so we shopped for one in the ZAR55 - 60k region, with him payting in the differance. he made 30k when he rebuild and then sold the 2009 Aprilia RS125, and wanted to use this money. Searching was another task I was not looking forward to. When you find a car online, it's usually "Sold", or, "Dad, that's to small, girly, too pink......". Anyway, we found a nice car, and di some negotiationg, and bought it! ZAR65k, a bit more than he wanted to spend, but his gran had given him ZAR8k for his 18th, which he put towards it.

Retail value (accoding to the little book the Used car dealers use ) is ZAR64700. On the floor for ZAR70. Cash discount - ZAR65k! Bargain.
I did a full background check on the car with regards service history, warranty claims etc. and decided it ws a good buy.

Opel Astra, Irmscher - 1.8 lt, (no turbo) 2003 model - limited import - Build by Hans and company, not Sipho and company!

It's a great first car (in fact any car). Full leather interior, Radio / CD, power steering, good fuel consumption, aicon, Cruise control..... and all the other nice to have options. It's "full house" as they say. And LuckyL is sooo chuffed with it!

Salagatle!

Some catch up is needed here

Ok, so I got ahead of myself with regards the Xmas hamper posts, not realizing I had not shared my intentions here.
So here's the deal. Every month I do a months grocery shopping for Witness's widow. And I deliver it to her at the squatter camp. Over the time I have been going there, I have got to know some of the people, and their kids. Nice kids. Very appreciative kids. Who will one day maybe turn out to be the type of monsters we have to live with today due to their regrettable upbringing!! (No excuse for crime, but there is some merit in desperation driving you to steal a loaf of bread....).

So I got to thinking, what if I did a little something for some of them for Xmas. Limit it to the kids on the North side of the road (That's the side Witness lived on, and it's a much smaller camp) and say, from baby to 12 years old (13 means you are a teenager, so you big enough to understand).

So I got one of the ladies there to do a lsit of the kids, their sex, and ages. The result was 19 in all. Not a big number at all. And that's how I got to the place I am in right now, (Please refer previous posts at this point for update on current status of Xmas hampers!)

I was hoping to add a blanket and a towel. Looks like I will be doing the blankets, one way or another. It's the only thing that will last long, and will definitely make a difference. The rest of the pack will soon be a faded memory of sweet taste, and maybe some fun with the toys.

So each child will get a pack, with a letter from Santa, in an envelope, with his / her own name on. Not just replicated hampers, each one is individually labeled, and has something different inside that the other kids wont have.
here's the Santa signature which I put on the letters to the kids:-

I Goggled it - I did not ask for permission to post it, or use it. If it's Googleable it's public domain!
Will post final product, pic of blanket, and then pics from the day on this blog.

Salagatle!

PS - the Toyota is in for a major, Boot to bonnet overhaul. And then I hope it will do another 200,000km!

DMDad and golden oldie combacks

So, following my starting to post retro stuff which should make a come back, or not, DMDad posted a comment about the old Messerschmitt. A 3 wheeled contraption, German made. Herewith some pics from Google (and no, as usual, I have not asked fro permission to post these. If I can download them from Google, they are in the public domain, and I make no reference to their ownership anyway!).

 Nice example of one. Looks like it could be a Taxi?

 Original Sales poster? Looks like it was a 3 seater too. Driver upfront, and two passengers behind him....

Same company also were responsible for the WWII fighter planes!!!

I remember another 3 wheeler from my childhood days, an Isetta (Italian make), which friends of ours owned.
Similar thing:-

Isetta - eish this is small

With a caravan - yea right! For the dogs maybe - only thing is they would have to run behind you to get where you going!

Full front opening door. Two seats in front one in the back - or at least it looks that way!

Ok, so I went looking for what's going on in the 3 wheeled department in the world right now, and found quite a lot of stuff. Most, I think, comes out of the East (what does not today) and is probably aimed at the poorer markets, and mostly as cheap transport (taxi) or work horses (crappy bakkies!)

Work Horses. Piaggio was an Italian company. Didn't check, but I suspect it might belong to some Eastern company today.

Taxi.... a la Eastern style. Tuk Tuk?

So what's he so smug about? I want to see him get anyone of those things out of one of our potholes!

Probably Korean, but this is starting to look smart - maybe a nice option for in city taxi stuff, like down in Cape Town, etc.

A hybrid 3 wheeled car / bike, but with front wheels that allow you to lean into corners. This is not so "futuristic" as there is something like this in one of the latest Bike SA magazines.

Looks like a 3 wheeled Smart. Can't see number of seat - but does not matter - don't want one anyway!

Tuk Tuk Limo?

So, there are things available today. Admittedly none of them nearly resemble the Messerschmitt of old, or the Isetta. So, would they make a comeback, and would they be successful?

Personally, I don't think so. They are really not practical (don't look it anyway). Small is not good either, considering the size of the average car today. I feel intimidated driving my medium size sedan, these things are smaller then the old Mini Minor. If you made them bigger?
Well, I still don't know. From opening doors tells me that this is possible a weak point for any impact! In your face accident!!!
I think the small car design, as experianced in Europe, to accomodate mostly in city type driving, have surpassed whatever this type of transport would ever be able to offer - other than stare value.
What you all think?
Oh, and what do you all think about these posts? Waste of time, fun to read, or should I stick to my emotional outbursts!

Salagatle!

Old cars, with modern versions, which should not be retro issues

Some cars, which have modern day versions, and should not be rebuild in retro style, just because the older ones were so kak, would be amongst the following:-

Circa 1972

Circa 1975

2009

2010 CC

Futuristic view

The VW Passat, in it's original shape, pre 1980, was a piece of crap! Seriously, they quickly became very second hand, with no trade value. Were soon owned mainly by people who couldn't afford a better car! I was surprised then, when the Passat made a come back after some time "off" the South Africa market. Hey, they might still have been coming out with newer one's and I didn't notice?

Anyway, the more recent models, GMan drives a 0'05/'06 model, as fantastic. They can easily be compared to Mercedes, Audi, and BMW. For real. The CC, which the dad of a friend of LuckyL recently bough is a fantastic piece of art!

I'm sure I will think of more of these in the future.

Salagatle!

Another retro comeback

Another car which might be nice in modern guise, and maybe only because I drove one as my first car, would be:-

the Chev Firenza, but the CanAm version. I drove a 1300 Firenza (no CanAm), blew the motor, fitted a 1700cc motor, blew that, then the 2500cc motor, and when that went up in smoke, fitted the small block Chevy V8! Then I sold it, with a blown motor!!!

Changes for a retro look but modern version, well, I'm not too sure. A modern tech motor, slight modifications to that awkward slope on the rear...., maybe a bit wider.

Salagatle!

Retro Cars and my personal options

So, over the past few years, motor car manufacturers have resorted to playing with our emotional past with regards car designs. What do I mean? Well, lets take a look at some of them.

Austin Mini Minor:-

In it's day a seriously popular car. I personally knew some guys who bought up every one they could find, so that they had plenty spares available. All they lived for was doing mods to the engines, racing the little things, and repairing them. Available in many colors, and many derivatives (convertible, station wagon), and even in sport makeup in the Mini Cooper S.

So, after many years of being out of production, they decide to make a come back. A bit longer, a bit higher, a bit wider..... much safer (they claim). Overall, a nice car - but still very small, not a family car by any means, and way overpriced (my personal opinion). But they were successful.

However, they did not lead in the retro market space. The first "big thing" to make a comeback in the motoring world (in my opinion anyway) was the VW Beetle.

Probably the most sold car (in various derivatives) of all time - in the world. In fact, there are so many of these still on the road, it's a wonder the stupid guys at VW decided to stop making them. Not light on fuel by any means, they are renowned for never stopping. In 1977, when hitch hiking home for a weekend brake from the army, I got a lift in one of these. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the then Orange Free State, the driver stopped, took a bottle of champagne off the back seat, opened it and we  toasted his car having done 1,000,000 miles!!!!
They "sport" model was the "SP", also very popular.
So, due to the emotional status of these cars, VW came out with this:-

Sexy, if you are a chick. A bit wider, longer, maybe taller (not sure about that), and also very expensive. Not a family car either.

So, where am I going with this. Most of you probably know all of the above anyway. Well, sitting in traffic the other day, i got to thinking. What other cars, with emotional background (to me anyway) would be nice to see make a comeback (of sorts). The first had has to be this car:-

The Renault Gordini. There were predecessors to this model, and probably some models that followed this one, but this is the one that has emotional history for me.
These cars were monster - on the road, on the track, in Off road rallies! The stuff the guys did with these cars, and their engines is legendary. I would love to Renault bring this baby back, a little wider, a little longer, and maybe even a little higher, but priced for the cafe racing fraternity. And they should fit it out with one of their modern high performance engines. I think this could make a better comeback than either of the first two cars mentioned above.

Anyone else have thoughts on this? Any other cars you would lie to see make an emotional comeback?
I will be posting some more on this subject in the near future!

Salagatle!

Insurance companies, claims and service

And these three things should never be mentioned in the same sentence!!!! It's much like - Military Intelligence - DUH!!!

Ok, so I sent off an email to my short term insurance company, following what I perceive to be poor service. This is it.

Good day,
I send this email to the above address as it was the only email address I could find on your website that was not directed at a single point. I trust that this will get to either your PR manager, or any other person who will look into customer satisfaction and related issues.

Generally, I am / was impressed to date with the service I have got from xx Insurance. I have my motor cars and household on cover with xx Insurance. Your prices were/are  good/competitive, adding new vehicles, and removing old ones was always dealt with promptly.

On my first claim, my claim was dealt with very quickly and professionally, and the problem sorted out with no hiccups.

However, this time, I must say I have been very disappointed with the service I have received. Firstly, I did not get any response to my email sent to two people I have dealt with before. Then I finally found a claim form online, but had no where to fax it to. Eventually I got told that I had to send it to a named person in Cape Town. Done.
I then got a call to say they needed a faxed copy of my drivers license - this was within hours of my submitting the claim. Done. Then I didn't hear anything for 2 days, so I called, and was told she was still waiting for my drivers license!?! So, if I didn't call, how long was she planning to wait before contacting me? Surely this could have been done within 24 hours of the original request? 
So I resent it. Then I got informed of the selection of the assessor. He was excellent, and even came to my offices to do the assessment. This was late last week. He said he would put through his report that afternoon. I waited till today and decided to call the lady working with my claim. She informed me that they had given the go ahead to the repair company last week already, and it was for them to contact me!!! 
Surely not! The least I would expect from my insurance company is for them to let me know that my claim has been approved, and that I can take the car in for repairs.!!

So, I have called the repair shop, and made the necessary arrangements. Typically, they don't know when the approval came through, other than the document he had with him apparently states 25 September!?!?!?!

I don't know what my excess is to be. I don't know if xx Insurance will be claiming this back from the 3rd party on my behalf. Very poor service I think, and not typical from a company that I have had the pleasure of working with for over a year now.

Policy Number xxxx-xx

So, I get this response.

Dear Mr (Euroafrican)

Claim no :  xxx/xxxxxx
Motor accident

I have tried to contact you on the telephone numbers as below but unfortunately you are not available. (She called once, and left a message. I called back and she said she had sent an email. We had a short chat, and cleared some stuff up.)

I would like to inform you that your car hire has been arranged and Carsure will be contacting you shortly. An amount of R750.00 is required by yourself to be paid as a petrol deposit and will be returned to you when the vehicle is returned to avis with a full petrol tank however when you take delivery of the vehicle as it will have a full tank. (avis should be spelt Avis)

Your excess which is due to the panel beater once your vehicle has been repaired is an amount of R2750.00

We confirm that the file is being sent to our legal department to the recovery aspect of the claim, however this procedure can take a while and therefore cannot confirm the time frame.

Your sincerely
Senior Claims Consultant

OK, so what am I missing here ? The problem is as follows:-  They do not address my complaint. In fact, they don't even mention it. Yup, they manage to evade the actual problem. So, as soon as the car is fixed, and all else is sorted, I will raise the issue again. My comment to her on the phone was "If this is the internal process, it's not good enough. I expect, as your client, to be informed of the progress of my claim. You cannot leave me to the mercy of some random person who works for a panel beating company to call me. What if, as in this case, he does nothing for 5 days? I am expected to be inconvenienced because you cant be bothered to communicate with me?"

Anyway, the cars getting fixed. The rental car is great. And while it's in the shop, I'm having the windscreen replaced as it's cracked through. More excess to be paid, but hey, in for a penny, in for a pound!

Salagatle!

Cars, Insurance and panelbeaters......

So, I posted a while ago that some clown drove into the back of my car. been a hassle getting everything sorted, but eventually I got the go ahead to ave the car repaired. Drove it down to the panel beaters yesterday, and because there was no one else home to fetch me, I got LuckyL to ride behind me on the bike (my XJR 1200!!!) so I could get back. Man, did he ever enjoy that! he's been nagging the Princess to let him use my bike forever, always a NO! You too young / small / crazy......

Anyway, while it's there I'm having the windscreen replaced too. It had a few chips, but on my way home from work yesterday, I drove past a site where there are workers digging / burying cables along the pavement. I was about 30 meters away when one of them put his pick axe through a water pipe! Well, the fountain blew at least 30 meters into the air, and along with it tons of ground, and some nasty rocks and stones. As luck would have it, one landed on the top of the windscreen and it cracked all the way through, top to bottom. So that's that!

A bonus for me is that the insurance company forgot / neglected to remove the car hire option from my insurance! Excellent. So now I'm driving an Avis rental, which I collected this morning at about 11.30 am. It's a Chevrolet Aveo, automatic (that's cause my cars an automatic). I think it's about a 1500.... but goes very very well! The ride height is also higher than my current car, so it's a very enjoyable motor car.

Anyway, I have it for the next 21 days at least, but expect to get my own car back in a week or so.

Salagatle!

Eish!

Driving home after work yesterday, and I'm chatting to a buddy (using a hands free) and I stop behind a stream of cars at a traffic light. Next minute I hear the shriek of tires, look up into the rear view mirror, and see an Isuzu bakkie (LDV to my unlearned friends) coming down at me!
Had just enough time to put my foot firmly on the brake pedal and then he smacked into the back of my car.
Funnily enough I didn't get pissed off, nor did I get out and attempt to behead the demon and shit on his lungs. I got out of the car, taking a note book along with me. And using my cell phone started to take many photos, and then took down all the details I could find / ask for. Checked that everyone was fine, and left.

Very close encounter

The rear of the offending vehicle

Getting up close and dirty......

Fuck it!!! So the problem isn't that the car is damaged, and that it was a fuck head darkie that rode into me. It's the hassle of having to a) report to nearest SAPS offices, b) get 2 repair quotes, and c) put in a claim with the Insurance company.

Anyway, done 2 out of three already, and if the insurers online claim page worked, would have had that done already too. But it's not, and they don't answer their phones so I'm a bit pissed off, but what the hell, it's Friday. So, as previously stated, Fuck it!!!

Why didn't I lose it with the errant driver? I don't really know. Maybe it's because there was 6 of them together, no, that's not it, I had them outnumbered anyway, maybe cause I saw the damage wasn't too bad, or maybe I was just not in that frame of mind. Actually, I'm quite pleased with myself.

I'll get the car fixed, and sort out the excess with the owner of the bakkie, and get on with things....

Salagatle!

BMW 3 series safety rating

Please note - sensitive readers to not g
Anyone of my readers (either of you) know what the safety rating is for the BMW M3.
As the pics below show, it is prone to self destruct, but I concede that I don't know what the speed was at time of impact. But then, if it goes so fast, it should be safety rated for that speed, you think?
o any further.






Salagatle!

Old v New

I suppose a deal isn't really closed till you have the old v new photos.
So:-The "old" kombi - now definitely someone else's problem.And the new Kia - nice! For now, Fishman, problem free.

Salagatle!

Kia Sportage

So, eventually all the bits and pieces came together, the bank approved my finance at the rate I wanted, and I got the car. I took the Kombi to work under the pretence that I was going to get a quote / offer from a cash buyer, some guy who comes up from the coast once a month to buy rust free cars for his lot down there. Anyway, I took the Kombi in, and came home with the Princesses first ever brand new car!!

She's quite stoked, and it's a great vehicle.
5 year warranty, 4 yrs, 100k km maintenance plan, with option to extend, 2Lt, petrol motor.
it has most of the bells and whistles, and I had a tow bar fitted, as well as having the windows done with that tinted anti smash and grab stuff. All I still need to do is have a nudge bar fitted, but that can wait till I have the funds.

Insurance is only ZAR 180 per month more than I was paying on the Kombi, and repayments will work out just marginally more per month then what the Kombi was starting to cost me to maintain. In fact, in the 3 weeks prior to trading it in, I had spent ZAR6500 on it, and it still wasn't right! That's 3 months repayments already!

Anyway, all's well that ends well. The colour is right, as per the Princesses choice, and she enjoys driving it. There's enough space in the rear seat to accommodate the two tall boys, and anyway, they old enough now not to need to lie down and sleep every time we go on a long trip. Although, having said that, the rear seat, which is split 60 / 30, also has a 5 setting reclining option, so if we do take a long trip, we hook up the trailer, put most of the luggage in that, and the boys will have "beds" / recliners to sleep in if needed.
Overall a well designed car / SUV, no rattles (yet), the interior lights don't come on when you go around a corner, you can open and close the rear windows without bits of plastic covers falling off, unhooking, snapping. The Kombi, as much as we enjoyed it from a practicality point of view, wasn't very well designed / built. Over the years VW have been trying to get too fancy, clever, and have done some seriously bad damage to what was basically a great family wagon. Having said that, I wouldn't discount buying another one one day, should the need arise, and VW sort out those little stupid design faults.
Maybe I should email them some time, and point out what are very basic, but frustrating faults. Who knows, they might appoint me as their unofficial critic!

I'll post the before (VW) and after (KIA) photos as soon as I have down loaded them from the cellphone.
Oh, and Fishman, he of papvreter fame, I'll bring it round sometime for your opinion.

Salagatle!

decisions, decisions, decisions....

There si currently, on National TV, and advert for the Kia Sportage, on special. R242000 with a R30000 cash back / discount / extras offer. Add R3000 to this for Lic & reg fees.Mentioned this in a previous blog.
Anyway, turns out it's a 2008 model actually, but brand new, so will be registered as a 2009 model. But it's also pre - facelift.
Not too many changed, headlights, front grill, twin exhausts as opposed to single, new style mag wheels. Internally much the same, small change on the aircon buttons, and the addition of an I-Pod jack, as well as a USB port (for charging stuff?). Oh, and the radio can also play MP3.
So, I go look at the new facelifted model.
R242000, but, they offer it with Nudgebar, tow bar, Anti smach and grab window tinting, as well as the Lic and reg fee, all thrown in, at the floor price.

Both dealers are offering R115000 for the trade in (2004 VW Kombi, 1.9 TDI, 118000, full service history, inc. towbar......).

So, do I get the new look model, with all the optional extras, or the older look model, with no extras. They just called to confirm I can have it for R207k! Another R5k off.

Seeing as I would be getting R35k (R242 - R30k cash back = R212k, -R207k = R5k. So R30k+R5k=R35k) back, it makes more sense to me to go for the old look, new car deal.
Just wondering what u all think?

Salagatle!

Another Friday - and it's pay day.....

And another week has come and gone, and I haven't posted a thing. Nothing worth posting has come up. Although, I was at Sun City on Monday and Tuesday, compliments of my employer who held the annual "Sales University" there. And had a good run at the casino too, taking home ZAR3000.00 more than I started with.
Be that as it may, it's just a drop in the bigger scheme of things.
This week I again approached the Hyundai dealership with a view to trade in the VW Kombi on a Tuscon. They offered me ZAR135k for the VW, and ZAR180k was wanted for a 2007 Tuscon. Do the deal I said. Came back to me today to say my VW isn't a 2005 model, it's a 2004, so they offered me ZAR25k less! Oh, well, in that case, no deal. I could have sworn the VW was a 2005 - tough cookie I suppose. Means I'm keeping the VW!
GMan is away for the weekend on leadership camp. This is where the school take about 50 kids from the schools Grade 11's away for the weekend to access their leadership qualities. Most, about 80% will / should be selected for prefects for next year! Good luck my boy.
His midyear report card was ok, but could / needs to do better in maths. Methinks he has been taking things a bit too easy of late.
LuckyL brought home his best effort yet! Well done my boy, and thank you!

Most of you don't know this but I have an older sister, who turns 50 this coming Sunday. Problem is we haven't spoken for, oh I don't know, 18 - 24 months? Anyway, I think I'll get the boys to send her their wishes, better still, they can give her a call. They haven't seen her for the same period.

I have my second interview with the other company this Monday. Hope it goes well, but it should. Some comments on my previous post allude to the fact that my current employer probably wont make a counter offer is I get an offer from this second company. They may well be right, but the facts are we are now very short staffed, down to below the minimum required, i am the salesman with the most experience currently in the market (for this employer) AND HAVE A VERY HIGH HIT RATE AND SUCCESS RATE. THE QUESTION IS, CAN THEY ACTUALLY AFFORD TO LET ME GO? NOT THAT I THINK I AM INDISPENSABLE. Can they really afford to lose another salesman, and replace me with an inexperienced person? Somehow, I think not. Or maybe, I hope not. Then again, maybe the offer I get (if I get one) might not be much higher than I currently earn, in which case, why shouldn't they match it. if it's that much higher that they can't, well, why would I want to stay?

More to come.
Salagatle!