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1

General Discussion Area / If you have an hour or so free...

« on: 15 February 2016, 01:50:40 »

...do try and watch this video. It is a year old and a half decent production of what is going on within the NHS/NHS England. It starts off in an odd fashion but then the quality picks up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ultKvnw2h3Q

Then make up your own minds.

Edited to add: I am not a BMA member, never have and never will be. I also have nothing to do with the video itself, but know one or two of the people in the video as I have worked with them.

2

General Discussion Area / Tax question

« on: 02 January 2016, 15:11:29 »

Friend of mine asked me today and I have no idea. She/husband are long term UK residents but not citizens as such. She/her husband are in the process of buying a house in the UK and her parents have agreed to help with part of the deposit. Said parents are non UK citizens and live outside the UK. I understand that the amount that the parents are helping with is between 20-40k. A long term loan from parents with no interest and payments as and when possible.

So question is: Is this amount taxable if sent as a gift to the above couple? I wouldn't have thought so as it has been earned by a foreign citizen in a foreign country. Any ideas or websites I could direct him to?

3

Cars for Sale & wanted / For Sale: 3.2 Elite V6 2002 Saloon LPG Auto

« on: 26 October 2015, 00:50:23 »

3.2 Elite with GID. 92300 miles. 1 previous owner (who happened to own a Vx dealership and spent a lot on regularly servicing the car/maintaining it)
EMER LPG conversion (cost £1500).
80L LPG tank (cylindrical tank) in the boot.
Rear tyres are Goodyear F1 Assymetric 2 (6mm tread)
Front tyres are Hankook Ventus S1 Evo (7mm tread)
Leather interior in very good condition.
Fully functional electric driver seats with memory and electric passenger seats.
Front and rear heated seats, all work perfectly.
Aircon re-gassed this year.
Polybushed front suspension (at WIM).
Xenon headlights with washers - fully functional.
Sunroof fully functional.

MOT due to expire 16th Nov, but is being re-tested on Monday, so will have a new MOT at point of sale. It had no advisories last year.

Full documented service history till 2012. Since then my mileage went up dramatically. So it has been serviced every 10k miles but has been done by myself or members of this forum. Cambelt changed by Daz last year (83k). At the same time had an oil change and rear springs replaced. Rear brake pads were renewed by Al this year and have done about 2000 miles since. As a result I dont have any workshop receipts for this period of time.

Car is due another oil change and I have the oil(fully synthetic) and filter ready for the change. However if you wish to change it yourself, then I can provide the oil and filter along with the car. Alternatively I can change the oil and filter pre sale.

Bad points:
Parking scuff on the off side bumper, see picture.
Dent on the off side front wing, I have been quoted £30 for paintless dent repair, but havent had time to sort it yet.
Rear spoiler lacquer has started peeling, could do with a smart repair.
Passenger side central locking motor has stopped working and has to be manually unlocked.
All alloys have some scuffs due to parking.

It is a very nice and comfortable car with lots of toys, but I have run out of parking space and with a new company lease car due soon, this has to go.

Asking price is £750, but open to negotiations after seeing the car.

4

General Discussion Area / This got me thinking ...

« on: 13 September 2015, 21:46:57 »

More than once on this forum I have seen members make statements that seem to link sexual predators and crime with immigrants and blame the decline of the UK on immigration/immigrants.

Whilst I have my own idea about immigration and asylum (and believe me it is not what you may think), this article seems to bring my thoughts to the fore:

Link

It is not the colour or ethnicity of the person that makes them evil. Evil can be found amongst people who look like you and will take advantage of the fact that they have your trust!

In a sexually open and progressive society such as ours, it makes me wonder what makes people do such acts?

5

General Car Chat / What are the engines in these like?

« on: 31 May 2015, 22:07:51 »

Linky . Its the 1.4 T with 140bhp.

Not to drive etc. But in term of known issues, reliability? Do they tend to go manage high mileages?

Test drove one today. Considering it for the better half.

6

General Car Chat / Any experience of this engine?

« on: 13 May 2015, 00:31:19 »

Link

Any issues, negatives, positives, experience etc?

7

General Discussion Area / Question for the Computer wizards.

« on: 04 May 2015, 15:50:29 »

NAS related question. I have a Zyxel NSA325 with 4TB in mirror Raid. Access is via both a Mac and PC. I only use the Mac to access and maintain the NAS.

Of late we have had to grant access to guests to access our router (for internet access). Which sort of automatically grants them access to the NAS.

So how can I password protect the folders on my NAS? Setting up shares is tedious and often causes issues with music streaming etc. Can I do it via the Mac so that certain folders are not accessible to guests or even our aupair?

Any help (in lay language) gratefully accepted.

8

Omega General Help / Leaky A pillar

« on: 29 March 2015, 03:02:30 »

Left car in the rain overnight, got in to drive away this morning and noticed a few drops of water dripping in from the passenger A pillar. At the point where the soft touch fabric meets that odd shaped plastic trim (upper end of the pillar).

What do you chaps reckon is the issue. Sunroof drain blocked?

Door seals look and feel intact. Headlining isnt soaked through. Just a small patch of dampness near the top end of the A pillar where a few drops of water seems to be leaking from.

Maybe I should recycle the old girl and get a new VXR8. 

9

General Discussion Area / A Terrorist's disappointment

« on: 15 January 2015, 22:12:16 »

Wealth, women and endless afterlife spoils. Such is the fantasy of those blowing themselves up in public spaces. Imagine their awe upon discovering that it’s all a sham. Something like this…


God: Come in, come in

Dead Bomber: Blessings be upon you…

God: Cut that out, I’m good. There have been so many of you people blowing yourselves up, I decided to interview you personally. But this is not something I normally do. Why are you doing that?

Dead Bomber: Eh, we thought that’s what you wanted.

God: You thought what? Are you insane? Why would I want you to blow yourself up? And kill other people on top of that? It’s in all religions, ‘Don’t Kill’. Number one. The first thing. How can you miss it?

Dead Bomber: But we thought we’re doing it for you..

God: FOR ME? I created all of this all on my own, I can do whatever I want. I can turn a volcano upside down just by clicking this button here. Don’t ask me why I need this button. Why would I need your help? What twisted logic have you people come up with?

Dead Bomber: Ehm, it’s the afterlife…

God: Afterlife? What afterlife? There is no afterlife! You think this is a computer game? You die and you go to level two? And you didn’t even finish level one, you just opted out.

Dead Bomber: But all the Books talk promise an afterlife, a paradise…

God: It’s a metaphor! How did you people not get that? It’s specifically written in an allegorical manner so you get that. Look at me, discussing literature with an idiot who blew himself up.

Dead Bomber: So there’s no paradise?

God: No, you schmuck. That’s it, you die and you’re gone. I’m making an exception because I wanted to understand what foolishness you people were getting up to. I keep my eye off Earth for a few years, and you people spring up!

Dead Bomber: And the rivers of milk and honey and all of that?

God: You think I’m in catering? What impertinence! It’s enough work looking after you when you’re alive; you want me to spend eternity giving you free food? Like I have nothing better to do. Do you know how many universes I’m running now? Idiots!

Dead Bomber: And the beautiful maidens that we were promised…?

God: WHAT? Just what kind of establishment do you think I’m running here? It was all a metaphor, a story about how you’re supposed to live your life. How can you take it literally? If you’re good, you have inner peace, that’s it. That’s paradise. If you’re evil, you live a tormented inner life. You people have come and blown the whole system away. No pun intended.

Dead Bomber: I’m sorry, we just didn’t realize. You see there were those other people, the infidels who didn’t believe in you correctly. The crusaders and the rejectionists…

God: So you blow them up? Who do you think put them there? You utter imbeciles. You know I might introduce eternal damnation just for people like you. I’ll have to send someone to Earth to tell humans about it. I haven’t done that in centuries, I can’t even remember the shortcut. Get out. GET OUT! Before I turn you to salt.

Dead Bomber: What will happen to me now?

God: I might send you back as a swine, that should teach you. No, I’m pulling your leg. You will die and that’s it.

10

General Car Chat / Talking about tyres...

« on: 29 October 2014, 21:00:59 »

I remembered something that I wanted to post about but completely forgot. The last set of tyres I had on the 3.2 were Hankook's Optimo 4S. An all seasons tyre, that to be fair was very grippy, worked especially well in the wet and lasted about 18k. Usually I change tyres at or just below 3mm. But work and other issues prevented me from changing them when they got down to 3mm.

One wet Friday,few weeks ago I was travelling up the A1M and decided to take the A57 across to the M1 as the sat nav identified an accident up ahead. Going past one of the roundabouts, I remember being in the fast lane, approaching the roundabout, perhaps a tiny bit faster than I normally do/should do. As I hit the roundabout, I lost all rear end grip. The next thing I know the back was sliding out and I was applying counter lock to try and gain control of the car. It felt like an eternity before I got the car back in line and managed to drive on in one piece. Thankfully no one was next to me in the outer lane or else I would have hit them.

Got home and checked the tyres the next day. 2.6mm depth pretty much across the tyre. Reasonably even wear. No bulges/bald patches. So what caused the loss of control? Could it have been a patch of oil? Or is the advice to change tyres at 3mm the correct advice?

More so, if 3mm is the depth to change at, then these so called part worns are pretty useless?

Suspension has been poly'd and set up at WIM about 12 months ago.

So what tyre depth do you change your tyres at? I am certainly going to stick with 3mm.

11

General Discussion Area / Laptop question

« on: 28 October 2014, 22:12:42 »

Quite simple really. Replacing the battered Sony with a new one for the little one. So very basic use, occasionaly online flash gaming etc.

I have narrowed it down to:

Lenovo £250

or

HP G3 £270

I am leaning towards the Lenovo. My past experience of HP has not been perfect.

Any other contenders or suggestions?

12

Omega General Help / My Omega had died!

« on: 13 September 2014, 00:46:43 »

Well at least transiently. Ran out of LPG around half a mile from the pump, switched over to petrol (1/4 tank), spluttered, misfired and then died. Filled up with petrol and gas. Cranks, but does not start on petrol. Forced start on LPG, and she fires up and runs.

Now I have to sort out this mess before Monday and then drive 250 miles down the M1.

What a pain. What do you think? Fuel pump blocked due to a lowish fuel level(crud) or just plain dead? Have a misfire code on cylinder 1 and a pre-cat error code. I cannot imagine the misfire will prevent the engine from starting up at all.

13

General Discussion Area / Thanks to DLK

« on: 06 September 2014, 18:47:12 »

Thanks Daz for the cambelt change and service on my car. Also sorted out my leaky vac pipe (which Al diagnosed correctly in a previous forum post). Car runs a lot better now.

This was despite him feeling under the weather.

Many thanks. It was a pleasure watching you change the cam belt.

14

General Car Chat / Alloy wheel refurb...

« on: 05 September 2014, 00:28:59 »

in South London or the Croydon area to be more specific.

Ok, so I was a bit silly and pulled out of a road causing someone else to brake and scuff their alloy. I have put my hand up and agreed to pay for a refurb. The chap lives in the above area and despite a few online quotes, I have had no real response from alloy refurbers.

So what is the going rate for a smart repair for a 16' alloy, no buckles or cracks? Anyone you recommend in the region. I dont want a full strip down and refurb, just a smart repair. I wonder if the lack of interest from the online lot is due to the fact that it is only a single wheel that needs repairing? Prefer a mobile service to minimise hassle to the chap involved.

15

Omega General Help / Elite rear springs

« on: 17 August 2014, 15:02:44 »

My left rear SL spring is broken. Found it incidentally whilst changing tyres. Looking through previous posts Boge seem recommended, but are also discontinued? CP4L have these:

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/c/Vauxhall_Omega_3.2_2002/p/car-parts/suspension-and-steering/suspension/car-springs/?627720280&1&13acef40a80261820fb9b92bce923e11ee466923&1&000073

which are from the same parent company?

Other options include K-flex from BPB:

http://www.buypartsby.co.uk/buy/VAUXHALL/OMEGA/3.2/2002/__/102/steering-suspension/suspension/coil-springs/

Or perhaps old stock from this Amazon reseller:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boge-25-964-0-Coil-Spring/dp/B004CQO8M4

Need to get some and then get it sorted with the sort of mileage I do on the weekends. And I plan to change the pair, which seems to be the norm?