The perfect car

As some of you may well know and have experienced, the loss of a car can either have no meaning or significant loss in the life history of an individual. It may be that emotionally the womenfolk are affected badly by such losses, however men are not exempt from this process of emotional wringing of emotions especially as a car can extract emotions not otherwise noticeable on a daily basis. So it was on the first day of August of this year 2011 when I set off for work on an otherwise mundane day.The weather was rainy but nothing of any great note; then, about a quarter of an hour into the journey, disaster reared its ugly head and the prized MG with low mileage and a new cambelt was lost to the insurance loss adjusters as the remorseful and upset business magnate from a local firm sliced into the back of the MG with some relish as he had, prematurely felt that I was taking too long to enter the roundabout system, ah the sad irony of it all. After all the shananigans of the insurance company, the repair centre and the solicitors looking after my personal interests finally coming to the inevitable business conclusion that the damage would have cost more to repair than the value of the car, it was time to move and look for a replacement.
Hard bull nosed decisions but in retrospect it may well have done us some good. The first hired car we received from the accident repair centre was an absolutely incredible and stunning BMW 520d Auto Sport with satnav and an amazing array of gadgets that quite frankly I could not take in. I was so in awe of this car that I felt, if I touched any button in the cockpit, a rotisserie might appear to cook my dinner, such was its opulence and prestige that it literally blew me away. As my wife also liked it, it was an idea that started to germinate in our minds of thinking of a used approved BMW as a replacement car for our beloved MG. What if we could actually afford a bimmer ? Not the hired car of course, all £34000 of this car would be just too much for us to handle but a previous incarnation of it. The reviews led us to the most perfect of cars, a series 5 BMW 2002 with satnav, phone and computer console along with a very beefy 3 litre engine. It is well known that BMW engines go on and on provided that they are well serviced and maintained and with a diesel engine, fuel costs can be reduced to a degree, saving fuel money. Research is always the key when looking for a new car and we duly did this in a methodical and progressive fashion. After some deliberation and consideration, I eyed a car that looked ideal for us, the only issue was that it was based in East Yorkshire, east of Hull, near to the eastern seaside resort of Withernsea. However we decided to go for the day and risk the chance that this car would not be for us, we were not disappointed, far from disappointed and on arriving in the bracing flat lands of East Yorkshire we met the garage owner and then met the car. I almost knew immediately that this car would provide an adequate replacement for our old MG. It was clean and tidy and the cockpit was spacious and well set out. It also had the ubiquitous satnav and front and rear parking sensors( especially for my benefit) lol but the leather seats and comfort was the aspects that impressed my wife and as we headed home we both knew that this was the car we wanted, opulence, luxury and a little bit of class. This car oozed all of those attributes and we loved it.
Automatic gearboxes are more the domain of my good lady wife but I am learning quickly about the advantages of a good automatic gearbox as opposed to manuals and having diesel on board gives us more cost effective fuel options. Sometimes you need to let the past go in order to move on with your life, and if this is an example of letting go then I say bravo.Life is far too short to morosely reminisce on what might have been, as time never stops and we should all be enjoying our present lifestyle than to remember what could or might have been, because often things are never the same when brought back to provide a second chance. I am now smitten with the BMW range and I'm sure in time my wife will share my enthusiasm on this subject.

Hospital duties

Earlier this month I had to take my trouble and strife to the hospital for a little bit of plumbing but the whole environment brought back to me the different aromas and fragrances one finds in such places, you remember the invigorating smells of dettol based substances and the whole concept of bacterial products to ward off the nasty infections that are so prevalent in such places.
However on this occasion in the 21st century, the seeking of such comfortable and memorable smells seemed sadly lacking, the whole environment established a far more clinical and sterile area devoid of those somewhat friendly if not noxious substances of yesteryear.
The staff were pleasantly affable ahead of the busy day ahead of them as they kept themselves busy with paperwork and pre-operative assessments, and my wife; well to say she was a consummate patient would be understated, her behaviour was more applicable with someone that was totally at peace with her life and that by being in for day surgery was merely a blip in her already busy daily agenda. The serenity afforded by her in that time leading up to her operation was not only commendable but strangely bizarre in the extreme, her manner and calmness was a lesson for all of us that would be scared by the very nature of our predicament.
When I had left her on that hospital trolley being wheeled to her fate and headed for a lunch date, my mind started playing cruel tricks on me and the only thing I could ask myself was " why? " if my best friend and partner could cope with the event about to happen to her in that aseptic room down the corridor, then where was my belief? Yes it makes the individual wonder where there own courage has gone to, evaporation into the ether not that far away!!! It is a sobering thought that my wife and life partner can treat both fear and happiness in the same manner whereas her spouse has enough trouble believing that tomorrow will be a far more successful day than the current one, it teaches people like me the benefit and need to deal positively with every obstacle confronting us rather than seeing a scenario as a insurmountable hurdle that is far too difficult to achieve a major success from it. Constructive food for thought I think and I have my lovely wife to thank me for the lesson in maturity.

The aftermath of trauma

Recently I was in the unfortunate situation when I was shunted from behind in my car coming off a motorway near to where I live by a man in a business car with trade insurance. Apart from the initial shock and delayed trauma it made me think about the whole concept of road accident collision scenarios and the rule of law that states that any rear shunt is attributable to the perpetrator behind the shunted car. It is unfortunate for the man behind, but my sense of justness would lead me to believe that maybe his perception of my driving off instead of stopping at the bottom of the motorway exit road was distinctly flawed by his position behind me.
In the 21st century there are still some people that rush from one appointment to another at breakneck speed as if there lives depended upon it, and the only question I can come up with is " why?" because point A and the destination point B are not going to change positions and the intent to rush like maniacs down a motorway would appear to be insane. Is it speed that is their fuel for adrenaline or the joy of speeding rapidly down these roads for a sense of excitement would again appear to be a flawed argument for doing so. As my friend in the car behind me on that fateful day reflects upon his behaviour, it must be a sobering thought for him to realise that even at low speed, his car came off worst in this scenario and for that I am truly sorry for him, however this is what life is all about, making wise or unwise decisions and for this unfortunate motorist, he can reflect on what was a very sad and stupid decision in retrospect which leaves him with being penalised by his insurance company and two rather less than perfect vehicles now needing repairs to both, causing unfortunate and in reality unnecessary inconvenience to both parties but then, that is what makes us all humans ......flawed judgement from time to time. C'est la vie !!!!