T Break thread 2023

[Gerard C]

Same situation here, car insurances and many other things. The mobile phone market went so mad that now if you find a better offer with your actual provider you cant get it. Each time you're connected, you've to enter your phone number this enabling your request immediately. Crazy world.

[GORDON STREETER]

I gave a good look around regarding my house insurance and actually got it for over 1k less. I even emailed the complete details of our house and sent them a copy of the details on the company that we were with to make 100% sure that we were getting the exact same policy. A 1k saving means that I can go in the pub and have a couple of pints now !

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I can go in the pub and have a couple of pints now !

And have the insurance to be happy!

[delta]

My first 10 K road race as a 70 year old tonight 1 Hour 10 min . Yeaaaa.

[justracing]

Originally Posted by delta

My first 10 K road race as a 70 year old tonight 1 Hour 10 min . Yeaaaa.

Very impressive, did you fit a new coil pack before the off?

[GORDON STREETER]

For those of you that race or have raced in some sort of motorsport be it 2/3/4 wheels, did any of you ever think about the dangers involved ? or did you think that this only happens to "someone else"
Personally I never really thought about it and obviously it is a selfish sport, however something that happened last weekend has made me think about it as I laze about in the sun by the swimming pool today !

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

For those of you that race or have raced in some sort of motorsport be it 2/3/4 wheels, did any of you ever think about the dangers involved ? or did you think that this only happens to "someone else"
Personally I never really thought about it and obviously it is a selfish sport, however something that happened last weekend has made me think about it as I laze about in the sun by the swimming pool today !

I think that most competition drivers realise the risks involved .
But if you realise that the average road driver is not very good , which means that half of them are worse than that . So the risk of driving on the road is probably greater than in competition where a lot more controls are in place .

[midgetman]

The Spanish guy dying at the TT made me reflect. I'd much rather go like that - pure exhilaration for an hour, a few seconds of terror then nothing - than linger around with Alzheimer's, MND or whatever. He lived more in one lap if the TT than I have done in a lifetime.

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

For those of you that race or have raced in some sort of motorsport be it 2/3/4 wheels, did any of you ever think about the dangers involved ? or did you think that this only happens to "someone else"
Personally I never really thought about it and obviously it is a selfish sport, however something that happened last weekend has made me think about it as I laze about in the sun by the swimming pool today !

I must admit that during my very brief racing career 40 years ago, the dangers (in respect of hurting myself) were never in the forefront of my mind. I was more concerned about looking a prat if I ever did something silly, or what the repairs would cost me (in time & money if I did have an off. I think I was also maybe (falsely?) reassured by the safety of my car with a full roll cage & full harness belts, and the fact that there were fire extinguishers and marshalls all around the circuit.
I do however cringe when I think back to when I was a youngster and how crazy I used to drive on 2, 3 & 4 wheels. It's just luck that I wasn't badly hurt (or badly hurt other people) because of it but at the time assumed it was natural skill!

[GORDON STREETER]

I would like to point out that it was a personal friend of mine that got killed last weekend !

[midgetman]

The TT rider? I'm sorry if I was insensitive. I didn't know that was what you were referring to.

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[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by midgetman

The TT rider? I'm sorry if I was insensitive. I didn't know that was what you were referring to.

Sent

No sorry Max it wasn't the TT rider, I should have explained more. It was actually the landlord of my workshop's son who was killed at a motorcycle grass track meeting.
He was married with 3 children under 13 and it made me think the of consequences . I didn't get married until later life and never had any children.

[Lancsbreaker]

Sorry for the loss of your friend - I don't think your original post indicated any close connection....


I think like most, in nearly 50 years of competing, in rallying, with multiple crashes and rolls, and the subsequent relatively safe years on the race track, i ever really worried about the danger - and in reality only suffered a couple of minor injuries. Whether its the optimism of youth, later overlaid with the feeling that its been OK so far - and perhaps a little more attention to safety measures, I don't know. For sure the buzz of testing yourself against limits seems to outweigh concerns. Then again I've never had kids, so maybe that influences one's outlook....

[Mike Harte]

Condolences, Gordon.

I was certainly reckless on the road when I first got my road licence,and so saloon car racing allowed me to lessen my aggression on the road. My parents certainly worried about me racing, but it didn't concern me overly.

However, my perception did alter somewhat after attending a meeting at Brands. I was sitting with a couple of the lads that helped me out in the competitors' stand overlooking Paddock Hill Bend (PHB) to watch some of the other races before my race at the end of the day. It was the turn of the Modsports race and all but one open top car was on the grid, when that one car came roaring out from the tunnel, along the road towards the pits and then very swiftly on to the track. At tremendous speed he attacked PHB and lost the back end coming out of it and then went front first into the concrete marshals' post on the inside of the track up the hill.

Tragically he was ejected from the car and also went head first in to the concrete as he was unrestrained and sadly lost his life on impact. It was, for him, a day when he should never have got out of bed because this was just the culmination of what turned out to be a tragedy for his family. It turned out that he was late to sign in, missed his time slot for scrutineering and then had to practice and qualify with the cars of another race class. And then he had trouble starting the car for his race, and didn't get to the assembly area with the others and so no marshal was around to check whether his seat belts were done up properly, which they weren't.

This salutary story taught me a good lesson in that you always need to be timely in everything you do, and why, annoying my family on numerous occasions, I always insisted that we got to an airport, for example, way before we needed to because I became to hate rushing for anything. Better to get there early and then relax than getting all flustered when running late.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Condolences, Gordon.

I was certainly reckless on the road when I first got my road licence,and so saloon car racing allowed me to lessen my aggression on the road. My parents certainly worried about me racing, but it didn't concern me overly.
.

I was exactly the same, however I was racing motorbikes and cars around fields from when I was 14 so I had gained a bit of experience before I could legally go on the road and then I was forever getting pulled up for speeding, although I never had a crash. I have been banned from driving 3 times with the "totting" up system all for speeding offences with 16 endorsements, although it's nothing to be proud about ! I was even under a ban from the road when I started racing and a mate used to take me to the meetings.
I did over 50 years of racing on 2 and 4 wheels at different types of tracks in the UK and on the continent and never even gave it a though about injuring/killing myself !
However what happened last weekend has really made me more aware of the reality's of what could have happened. I have had several friends that have been killed in road crashes over the years that haven't affected me anything like this has, probably because living the life that I do today in retirement I have little else to think about

[Mike Harte]

I only got banned once, however that was for only a week and it wasn't recorded on my licence. I need to explain what seems to be nonsense.

One weekend, a friend of mine and I swapped cars; it's too long ago - nearly 60 years ago - and I had driven to one of my evening part-time jobs and was parked outside the bistro where I was to start work shortly. One of the other staff came in and told me two policemen where outside writing down things about the car I had drive in, an Anglia with 1500 GT engine.

A thing about these two coppers is that they had been transferred from the mounted division to traffic and always drove an unmarked two tone Worsley 1500. They were very well known around North London, and disliked intensely by anyone who had any dealings with them. They were recognisable out of the car because they still continued to wear there riding gear, including their boots, plus they also carried their crops with them and used to slap them against the Knee high boots.

Anyway, back to the car. They actually wrote me up for a total of 12 infractions, all of which were petty. However, when I presented the insurance documents at the local nick, it transpired that the insurance was invalid. Some of us of a certain age might remember that in the 60s there was a guy called Savundra, or something similar, who ran an insurance company which was a huge fraud. They were issuing policy documents fraudulently without paying the underwriters, which, in this case in particular, was a problem because my friend was a driving instructor for a well know name back then and he sometimes sued his own car for learners privately.

Well, I was bang to right, as they say. However, the magistrate was a very sensible chap indeed. Firstly he threw out the 12 charges but he said that he couldn't overlook the 13th charge of driving without insurance even though I wasn't aware that the car wasn't covered.

So he asked me if I was going on holiday shortly, which I was. He then passed down the sentence that I would be banned for driving for 7 days which coincided with the middle of my vacation far away from the UK, and that it wouldn't be recorded on my licence. And not even a fine, either.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I only got banned once, however that was for only a week and it wasn't recorded on my licence. I need to explain what seems to be nonsense.

One weekend, a friend of mine and I swapped cars; it's too long ago - nearly 60 years ago - and I had driven to one of my evening part-time jobs and was parked outside the bistro where I was to start work shortly. One of the other staff came in and told me two policemen where outside writing down things about the car I had drive in, an Anglia with 1500 GT engine.

A thing about these two coppers is that they had been transferred from the mounted division to traffic and always drove an unmarked two tone Worsley 1500. They were very well known around North London, and disliked intensely by anyone who had any dealings with them. They were recognisable out of the car because they still continued to wear there riding gear, including their boots, plus they also carried their crops with them and used to slap them against the Knee high boots.

Anyway, back to the car. They actually wrote me up for a total of 12 infractions, all of which were petty. However, when I presented the insurance documents at the local nick, it transpired that the insurance was invalid. Some of us of a certain age might remember that in the 60s there was a guy called Savundra, or something similar, who ran an insurance company which was a huge fraud. They were issuing policy documents fraudulently without paying the underwriters, which, in this case in particular, was a problem because my friend was a driving instructor for a well know name back then and he sometimes sued his own car for learners privately.

Well, I was bang to right, as they say. However, the magistrate was a very sensible chap indeed. Firstly he threw out the 12 charges but he said that he couldn't overlook the 13th charge of driving without insurance even though I wasn't aware that the car wasn't covered.

So he asked me if I was going on holiday shortly, which I was. He then passed down the sentence that I would be banned for driving for 7 days which coincided with the middle of my vacation far away from the UK, and that it wouldn't be recorded on my licence. And not even a fine, either.

Sued his own car? That sounds like one of Prince Harry's capers!!

Your final paragraph is rather like something that happened to a friend over here a year or two ago. She got stopped by a couple of Gendarmes for crossing a solid white line. She didn't have her car papers with her so had to produce them at a local Gendarmerie.

She duly did so, & they told she was banned from driving for two weeks & would have to leave her licence with them. "How can I get home? she asked, "my husband is away at the moment."

The Gendarme looked at her papers again, then asked "Oh, are you Colonel X's wife?" to which she replied that she was. He then asked if she was going away any time soon, to which she said they were due to go to England for a fortnight, so he said that's OK then, we will just ban you for those two weeks!

The Gendarmerie of course are military & there is a mutual respect between them & other military (or at least their allies!).

[Lancsbreaker]

I subscribe to an email newsletter called "Your Eye on Spain" - from the days when we had our property in Tenerife...... An article appeared today as follows:


"Well, that was interesting. It got a bit closer to me than expected, since Mojácar made the headlines in every news-site in Spain. But then, we always were a bit of an exaggeration, ever since Walt Disney was born here. Or so they say, on no evidence whatsoever.


Anyway, two fellows high on the local list of the PSOE (nº2 and nº5) were arrested three days before the local election for allegedly buying votes from impoverished foreign-residents through a postal-vote.
Now, the PP in Mojácar are said to have done the same thing in previous elections, so apparently, it’s not considered much of a crime. But, there can be too many postal votes and things can get suspicious! The normal amount is around 3 or 4 percent.


This time, a record 25% of all votes in Mojácar came via the postman.



Nevertheless, our practically levantine corruption, which again, made all the media, probably didn’t help the socialist cause elsewhere in Spain, with the PP winning several regions and major capital cities - and much of this was thanks to Mojácar.



Indeed, the PP-A say in Seville that they will leave no stone unturned to discover the truth about Mojácar ‘and will act firmly if any party-colleague is found guilty’ (a claim I think, that they may come to regret).


That final postal vote, by the way, was exactly 701 papeletas, or 25% of the entire vote (or the equivalent of three councillors).

The system is that the votes are counted along with the rest of them, but the envelopes are retained in case there's a suspicion of similar-looking hand-writing.


Then word came from the courthouse that another arrest had been made, this time someone buying votes for the Mojácar PP. Although the arrest was before the election, the announcement, to no one's surprise, was made after the election.


The person in question - a week later - is still in clink."


So - how much was your vote worth, Gordon ?

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Anyway, back to the car. They actually wrote me up for a total of 12 infractions, all of which were petty. However, when I presented the insurance documents at the local nick, it transpired that the insurance was invalid. Some of us of a certain age might remember that in the 60s there was a guy called Savundra, or something similar, who ran an insurance company which was a huge fraud. They were issuing policy documents fraudulently without paying the underwriters, which, in this case in particular, was a problem because my friend was a driving instructor for a well know name back then and he sometimes sued his own car for learners privately.

I certainly remember it, I think that the insurance company was called "Fire Auto and Marine" as my mate who drove me to the race meetings (when I was banned) was involved in a crash with his Vauxhall Cresta and found out that he wasn't insured so lost everything. In fact I have just found this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Savundra

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

The system is that the votes are counted along with the rest of them, but the envelopes are retained in case there's a suspicion of similar-looking hand-writing.

The person in question - a week later - is still in clink."

So - how much was your vote worth, Gordon ?

I am actually not in clink and I wouldn't tell anyone how much I was paid
Nothing new about Spanish politics, it's always been corrupt, the local Mayors normally get put in "clink" after a while for taking payments to allow "illegal" builds that seems the norm, and I can only talk from 1972 when we first came here, Blimey that's 50 years ago !!!!
One of the Mayors of Carboneras (the next town down the coast) a few years back was a convicted Columbian drug dealer, you couldn't make it up !











.

[Mike Harte]

Gordon, before he was tried and banged up, he lived in lavish style in a huge mansion on The Bishops Avenue (the word The in the road's name is very pretentious, but it was once considered to be the most expensive road in the UK) that at one time needed to be guarded by the police as he became the most hated man in the UK.

As youths, we used to drive past his house quite often as it was a direct link to friends who lived in areas beyond the start and finish of the road. Plus, the daughter of the publican where I also worked part time had gone to school with the daughter of a fairly well known music producer who also lived on Bishops Avenue, and on a number of Christmas Days we were invited to parties he held.

[Mike Harte]

About the housing corruption in Spain, even Sean Connery and his wife were dragged in to it. It was alleged that he had invested in some properties that had been built illegally but I don't know whether that matter is still outstanding. His so called "co-conspirators" included the then mayor of Marbella, where he spent most of his later years, and the civil servant that headed the Marbella planning office.

When various Spanish police authorities raided the planner's main home which was a good six or seven hour drive from Marbella in the province of Murcia, they discovered millions of Euros in suitcases in the basement of the house which was set on an estate. They also found that the walls were covered in original paintings by such artists as Picasso and Miro, plus other priceless objects adorning the house. Last I heard, about years ago, the guy was still in prison awaiting trial and there were rumours back then that it was possible that he may never see the inside of a courtroom as it may prove to be too embarrassing for too many well known names, and that he would just be left to tot inside the clink.

[Mike Harte]

Warning, what follows is a rant and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Ten-Tenths. (To be honest, it probably doesn't even represent the opinions of the poster when they aren't ranting.) Whilst on the subject of Spain, I went to one of the local supermarkets here in Yorkshire yesterday to do my weekly shop. I don't know why I was surprised but at least half of the shops chilled and frozen display units were empty because they were not working and when the temperature outside was about 25 degrees Centigrade and considerably cooler inside the shop. The reason I shouldn't have been surprised because I then remembered the same thing happened last year and possibly for years before that. It annoys me greatly having lived in Spain for at least a decade and, in years gone back, spent at least 6 months a year on business in the Far East and where temperatures are far greater than the UK, and not for just the odd day. Where I lived in Spain, it used to be in the range of 30 to 40 degrees Centigrade day and night for more than 6 months every year. Yet every shops chilled and frozen display units worked perfectly day in, day out. Obviously, on rare occasions, one or two may have required attention or maintenance, but not rows and rows of the blooming things. We now return you to our normal ramblings.

[Tel 911S]

Today , I believe , is the end of the HERCULES transport aircraft in RAF service .
There is supposed to be a fly past of them in various areas of the country , so keep your eyes to the skies to see the end of an era .

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

Today , I believe , is the end of the HERCULES transport aircraft in RAF service .
There is supposed to be a fly past of them in various areas of the country , so keep your eyes to the skies to see the end of an era .

You are correct, that a flypast is scheduled for today to all four nations of the UK:
1000 Depart RAF Brize Norton
1025 National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas
1034 RAF Cosford
1122 RAF Valley
1148 FS Aldergrove
1251 RAF Lossiemouth (with Typhoon escort)
1408 RAF Leeming
1410 RAF Topcliffe
1423 Beverley
1435 RAF Waddington
1438 RAF College Cranwell
1458 Cambridge Airport
1504 RAF Mildenhall
1515 Colchester Garrison
1622 MOD Boscombe Down
1625 Salisbury Plain (West Down Camp)
1632 MOD Lyneham
1636 Royal Wootton Bassett
1639 Defence Academy of the UK, Shrivenham
1643 Dalton Barracks, Abingdon
1651 RAF Halton
1655 RAF High Wycombe
1705 RAF Brize Norton

However, the aircraft remains on operational service until 30 Jun (and there might be some non-operational service after that date).