Driving Cheese

I forgot that Kelly and I are booked in to attend a christening on Saturday. Some place in the New Forest. Which will be okay – except that this means forgoing some cycling this weekend.

The ankle is feeling much better (80%) - so I had quite fancied the idea of a few hilly miles in the North Downs – especially as it has not rained this week and it will have dried out into a whippy and fast set of trails on and around Leith Hill.

I’m sure Hayden will eat my share of pastry products in the Peaslake bus shelter – and give Barry Knows Best a beating.

Never mind.

The plus side is that after the Christening we will go to Bath and see my brother (a rare event) and Lee is in town - and by coincidence he will also be decamping to Bath for the weekend. Kelly and I also want to catch up with Jo and Paul – and have a coo over the baby, who looks very cute in the photos Paul has sent on email. I think the last time we saw Jo and Paul was before Christmas –which included bump starting their car outside the wine factory.

On the Lee front, the BMW finally left our care yesterday. A contractor I know agreed to take it away and deliver it to the dealership I agreed the sale with, which is based in Chichester.

Even to the end that car proved to be trouble.

The battery was flat again and the contractor’s booster pack would not jump it from the points in the front. So we un-hinged the tray in the boot and tried to jump direct to the battery (little known fact - BMW batteries are under the back seat and you can’t get to them – so there is a jump point in the boot).

It was at this point that I noticed the spare wheel and the BMW tool kit had been removed.

Lee assures me these items were with the vehicle. Ergo when we replaced the tyres last year and / or had the MOT they were pinched. We never thought to look when we got the car back – so that’s another lesson learnt.

It has been really hard to get that car sold. The average private sale price for a 323 CI has plunged in these credit-crunching times to £2,600 – so the price I managed to get for Lee was a result. As was finding two Baby Bell cheeses in the ashtray and a t-shirt in the glove box.

The other thing to remember is that if you don’t drive a car very often, and it has a car alarm, there is a very good chance the alarm will drain your battery. This is a total arse.

Anyway the only BMW I have responsibility for now is Babylon by Bus.