Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

1561

General Discussion Area / Damned House insurance cover

« on: 10 November 2008, 15:11:28 »

So a few weeks back we had terrific rain, the likes of which I have never seen before in Europe.

No damage to the house but the flooding wrecked the housing of a pump and other equipment installed professionally 4 years ago.

called the insurance company and they sent a man out who took loads of photos and said yes it will be covered. They would sort it all out. My estimate about £1000 perhaps more with labour.

Received a letter today saying "not covered as the rainfall was not more than 40 litres a sq m per hour."  The storm was very localised as there was no wind. Next day I talked to someone local who said we had had 100 litres in total per sq m. In the local town they had hardly anything!

I am not going to give up without a fight but how can they prove we didn't and more to the point how can I prove we did!! I am going to see an official to get them to write me a letter.

Bl$$dy insurance companies same the world over.

varche

1562

General Discussion Area / Cheap £395 diesel Omega CDX on Autotrader up North

« on: 28 October 2008, 19:54:34 »

95 diesel saloon, auto. Long MOT. Got an air leak somewhere apparently.

I would have had a look if I was in England!

varche

1563

General Discussion Area / Nostalgia! 1982 Austin Rover Rallysprint

« on: 20 October 2008, 12:23:48 »

Looked through some old video tapes last night and watched the above. Very enjoyable. From Donington with Murray Walker commentating. There was a good mix of top flight (in those days) drivers from racing and rallying. Three events

Rally Stage using a mixture of Rally cars of the day 250bhp Chevette and Talbot Sunbeam. They had a Stratos but it wouldn't run properly.

Autotest I hated them then and hate them now. I think they were using the Austin Rover equivalent of the Honda Accord?

Race Using identical  race prepped Metros (lap speed of 79 mph average!)

Of course the rallying guys stuffed the racers Tony Pond 1st Overall, Stig Blomqvist and then Pentti Airrikala. They had John Watson, Keke Rosberg, Derek Daly as well as Terry Kaby(Dolomite Sprint man!) among others.

I would love to see a similar event nowadays.  

varche

1564

General Discussion Area / bank money making scheme

« on: 18 October 2008, 11:19:14 »

I sat here eating my Cabury's Credit Crunchy bar and fresh from seeing that the Origami Bank of Japan has just folded, I have drafted up a letter to send to two banks I have deposits with ( HBOS and RBS) to inform  them they have insufficient funds in their accounts and that I am reluctantly having to charge them an administration cost of £25 for sending them the letter.

varche

1565

General Discussion Area / What is worse than Hen sh1t on your car seats?

« on: 16 October 2008, 15:53:36 »

So I am working under the car on this occasion on the crank sensor. I can hear this scrabbling noise from INSIDE the car. Oh my god it is the hens got in through the open windows. For some reason they like to explore and one once got locked in the boot overnight.

So out i scrabble from all the filth and wave my arms at them to get out before more poo appears. They just nonchalently sit on the vast expanse of dashboard just out of my reach. No problem I reach further in and support myself on the seat with one arm while shooing them all out with the other. Result but at the expense of oil and crud all over the seats. GRR

varche

1566

General Discussion Area / Mud, rocks and rain - lots of it!

« on: 14 October 2008, 18:12:04 »

We had a terrific storm last night. Hours of lightning, thunder and it lashed it down with inches of rain. The rain is much needed but as ever seems to arrive only about five times a year.

Venturing out after such a storm is not recommended but needs must on this occasion. It took me 15 minutes to do the first 500 metres. Most of that was spent removing boulders, bottles, logs etc bigger than six inches off the road. Then it was build up speed and through the first mud bath. Of course the tractor is useless in mud (fat tyres and no weight on the back end)......

Got to the hamlet. The bar owner's wife rushed out and said don't go that way as the road is blocked in several places (so it must have been bad!) the other way is passable if you are careful. Now that is one thing I am. Two years ago a 20 foot section of tarmacced road got swept away completely half a mile away from us.

Plenty of huge mud baths but nothing too taxing. It reminds me of my youth when the slightest bit of snow and wind and you had problems. My dad used to drive around all winter with a huge coil of heavy chain in the boot of our Fords and the headlights pointing at the stars. Can't do that in my Omega it already has zero ground clearance!

When I came back the local JCB man had cleared it all. He is on a retainer from the council.

Now the sun is shining and it is like it never happened......

varche

1567

General Discussion Area / We are all saved now the Banks are sorted!

« on: 08 October 2008, 10:01:43 »

It all seemed a bit surreal watching the Americans trying to sort out there banks. $700B was it?

Now the same thing has happened in Britain. No voting on it. I can't help feeling that it would be nice to see a few bankers feel a bit of pain rather than spread it onto Joe Public. I bet the bankers will still all get their fabulous bonuses and pats on backs for doing a great job. Any other industry and they would just be allowed to go to the wall.

Why didn't the government insist that trading in all bank shares be suspended until the announcement came out?

What do you feel about it?

varche

1568

General Discussion Area / German Ebay for Omega parts?

« on: 26 September 2008, 13:47:50 »

Are we OOfers missing a trick by not buying parts off German Ebay?

I know some members get Irmscher parts off German Ebay but what about run of the mill stuff.?  Two things that I find a bit irritating about Ebay uk are:
1. A lot of sellers aren't prepared to send abroad
2. The Elite model seems to not be catered for very well. e.g. Springs, air shock absorbers.

Of course a big stumbling block is not being able to search effectively in German despite being able to converse a bit in the lingo. So my question is has anyone found a decent seller of Omega bits on the German site? What are self levelling shock absorbers in German? What is the equivalent Saloon elite model there? Caravan or is that the estate?

varche

1569

General Discussion Area / Have you ever paid to put air in your tyres?

« on: 23 September 2008, 15:49:16 »

I haven't and hopefully never will. I see it as a function of a garage to provide air and water for free even though there is a cost to them to provide and maintain the facility. Haven't seen a single pay machine here in Spain.

I must get it from my mother who is a regular driver (most days) and has never put petrol in any car in 60 years of motoring. She only uses attended service garages!.

varche

1570

General Discussion Area / Greatest show on earth

« on: 22 September 2008, 12:55:54 »

Rain. We have had some rain. Only an inch but first for 133 days.

With it was the mother and father of an electrical storm with thunder to boot. We watched the clouds light up from inside with sheet and forked lightening. Sometimes the thunder was continual - like for five minutes! best of all was that away from the thunder clouds you could see the night sky and the stars.

Course today it has gone all sunny again.......

varche

1571

General Discussion Area / Autobarnstormers trade card- does it work abroad?

« on: 20 September 2008, 12:54:25 »

Does anyone know if membership of Autobarnstormers gets a similar trade club discount from Opel dealers in Europe specifically in Spain?

I've tried looking for info on their website but on dial up slower than a snail Internet have given up.

Anyone know please?

varche

1572

General Discussion Area / Barry and the donkey

« on: 19 September 2008, 14:56:18 »

Young Barry, moved to Basildon and bought a donkey from a farmer for £100.00.
                 The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.
                 The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.'

                      Barry replied,
                      'Well, then just give me my money back.'

                      The farmer said,
                      'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.'

                      Barry said,
                      'Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey.'

                      The farmer asked,
                      'What ya gonna do with him?

                      Barry said,
                      'I'm going to raffle him off.'

                      The farmer said,
                      You can't raffle off a dead donkey!'

                      Barry said,
                      'Sure I can Watch me.. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.'

                      A month later, the farmer met up with Barry and asked, 'What happened with that dead donkey?'

                      Barry said,
                      'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two quid a piece and made a profit of £898.00.'

                      The farmer said,
                      'Didn't anyone complain?'

                      Barry said,
                      'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two quid back.'

                      Barry now works for the government  

1573

General Discussion Area / New Office Policy from Mon 15th Sept

« on: 13 September 2008, 11:38:40 »

NEW OFFICE POLICY- EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 15,  2008


Dress  Code:

1) You are advised to come  to work dressed according to your salary.

2) If we see you wearing Prada  shoes, Versace dresses  and carry a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and  therefore do not need a raise.

3) If you dress poorly, you need to learn  to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore  you do not need a raise.

4) If you dress just right, you are right where  you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.


Sick  Days:
We will no longer accept a  doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor,  you are able to come to work.

Personal  Days:
Each employee will receive 104  personal days a year. They are called Saturdays & Sundays.  

Bereavement  Leave:
This is no excuse for missing  work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers.  Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral  arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is  necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be  glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one  hour early.

Toilet Breaks:
Entirely too much time is being  spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the  stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll  will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your  second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under  the 'Chronic Offenders' category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be  sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch  Breaks:
* Skinny people get 30 minutes  for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.

*  Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain  their average figure.

* Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because  that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.


Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here  to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments,  concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations,  allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be  directed elsewhere.

1574

General Discussion Area / Was that your drowned facelift Omega on the news?

« on: 10 September 2008, 14:04:02 »

I watched a bit of UK news today. It was about some flooding. Apparently you lucky beggars have had some rain.

The clip showed a procession of cars driving through quite deep water. I thought they were all doing quite well as it was deep. Then it cut to a light coloured facelift  Omega with a few people pushing it through ankle deep water.  Water in gear selector? Who knows? Maybe the answer is to put a rubber glove around it like you used to do over the distributor of a mini back in the olden days! can't imagine it being the ignition system.

Was it you? !!

varche

1575

General Discussion Area / WIN 98 hard disk FAT32 or NTFS

« on: 08 September 2008, 17:19:13 »

Only OAP's will know the answer to this Q. !!!

I am trying to fit a second 20 Gig hard drive into a PC running WIN98 (not SE)The first drive is FAT32. The second is NTFS. Is that why it won't "see it"? Do I need to reformat in the other PC ?

Is it possible that as it is fairly old (Celeron 433) that the 40Gig already in is the most it can take?

varche