Random Irritations

I thought the Jesus story included a donkey not a horse.

Me n Little chubby Bro were born in Hong Kong

We have both normal birth cirtificates and Hong Kong ones, but we are both English
Mum from London , Dad from Southport
Get yourselves Chinese passports! Dual citizenship is aces!
 
Completely disagree. I’d actually like to go back to the time when Sunday hours were shorter and shooed closed half day on Wednesdays. It’s a bug factor on the strain finding retail staff.

Mrs H worked retail most of her working life. When she started she got Sundays off. Then they brought in Sunday working but she got double time for it but the double rate was ‘bought out.’ Then they brought in evening working at time and a half but that was ‘bought out.’

Here in Spain, outside of the tourist areas, there’s very little Sunday opening. Mrs H is so pleased the shop workers get some family time with the kids.
 
I know people hark back to the need for a spare but I've driven for 36 years, never needed one. Even if I did, could I get the old one off, fit a spare? Probably not, as you have described. At best, I'd ring the breakdown people. I'm happy with no spare, extra boot space.
My wife got stuck on an A road with a flat and I had to go out and rescue her. We had gunk not a spare, but the gunk didn't work so we had to call our breakdown service. The Police arrived before our rescue vehicle and ordered their own, it was rush hour and they want the road clearing, we were charged £80 for theirs and watched ours pull up as we pulled off in the one ordered by the Police.

I bought a spare after that.
 
Floor tiles delivered. Unfortunately part of our driveway has gravel, so their pump truck won’t work on it. So now it is on me to move 50 big tiles from driveway to garage
 
Mrs H worked retail most of her working life. When she started she got Sundays off. Then they brought in Sunday working but she got double time for it but the double rate was ‘bought out.’ Then they brought in evening working at time and a half but that was ‘bought out.’

Here in Spain, outside of the tourist areas, there’s very little Sunday opening. Mrs H is so pleased the shop workers get some family time with the kids.


But what about when PJ needs milk for his Frosties? 😉
 
A sad one. Received a call yesterday evening that a good friend had not woken up yesterday morning. A very fit, or so we thought, 68yr old - looked mid 50’s. Wasn’t carrying an ounce of fat. Cycled 20-30 miles 3 or 4 times a week, and not at a leisurely pace. Gym 3 or 4 times a week. He might have a couple of small beers but nothing you could say might be a contributory factor… shocked!
Sadly you just never can tell. Years ago, when I was a kid, I knew a guy called Mick Naughton. International Rugby League referee, top bloke, helped to set up the youth team structure in Widnes. Dropped dead at the age of 50. A very fit kit. It was so sad.
 
Most modern cars don't have spares, they have a can of gunk. Weight saving, reduces emissions............

It's probably 20 years since I've had a car with a spare in it.
Our company policy is that all company cars should carry a spare. But............. the spare wheel space in my Skoda Superb Hybrid is taken up by batteries so no space for a spare wheel of any sort.
 
My mum's has a spare. Flat the other day. I tried to get the tyre off it broke my torque wrench attachment it was welded on

Same happened to my mate at work he tried to get one off wouldn't budge. Everyone took the Mick until the track guys couldn't get it off either
My missus car had flat the other day. I was happy to change it but I couldn't get it off. The wheel had fused to the hub. Called green flag and the bloke managed to release it with a good old fashioned kick. Mind you he had put a solid jack underneath it first. I had tried it previously but the standard jack would just not have stayed in place. Apparently it's very common.
 
My missus car had flat the other day. I was happy to change it but I couldn't get it off. The wheel had fused to the hub. Called green flag and the bloke managed to release it with a good old fashioned kick. Mind you he had put a solid jack underneath it first. I had tried it previously but the standard jack would just not have stayed in place. Apparently it's very common.

Whilst cost is the main reason for spares to be removed by most manufacturers a number of other factors have come into play

Improvement in break down cover (ie short call out times)

New tech (like run flats and puncture cans)

And safety reasons, IE how often do people get flats? How old is that spare you are putting on, rubber ages can lose integrity etc

Considering this fusing on happens more now it's probably easier to just not carry a spare

Plus we are told when we pull over on the hard shoulder to "head left" over the barrier asap , not to change the tyre
 
Whilst cost is the main reason for spares to be removed by most manufacturers a number of other factors have come into play

Improvement in break down cover (ie short call out times)
Speaking from experience, I would argue breakdown cover needs vast improvement. The RAC guy who recovered me a few weeks ago confirmed they've lost many drivers and they're struggling to meet demand.
 
Speaking from experience, I would argue breakdown cover needs vast improvement. The RAC guy who recovered me a few weeks ago confirmed they've lost many drivers and they're struggling to meet demand.

This is very much a new thing tho isn't It? Over the period that spares have been phased out the AA, RAC , green flag have come on leaps and bounds
 
Trouble with flats and breakdown cover is that they cannot do anything really except relay you and the car somewhere which is not much use in the middle of the night. If you are out in the sticks like I am, you can either gamble that a place has the tire in stock and get it dropped there but then you still need to get home as they will only relay to one place and you also need to get back to your car the next day. You could get relayed home but then you have to find someone who will come out and fit a tire which is not always easy in the countryside and normally takes a few days.

On that basis, I would rather have a spare.
 
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