Car Park Full

I like what Gareth Wild has done because it is daft and he enjoys the fact that it is daft.

BBC News have his story here.

Gareth is a Dad of Two from Bromley who dislikes shopping.  Much like myself (apart from the Bromley bit).

Anyway, to make his shopping trips less boring, he has managed to park in all 211 parking spaces that he is allowed to use in his local Sainsburys.  He's used Excel and a diagram to keep track:

He said, "It was only six years ago when I said to myself, 'wow I could probably park in every single one of these spaces given enough time', and time is on your side when you're doing the weekly shop."

When asked about the trickiest spots to get, he said: "Without getting too technical, when I say B7 and B8 you'll know exactly what I mean. They were really difficult to get. I don't know what it is because they're not even great spots but people seem to love them..."

(In my opinion, those are the only two spots that you don't have to reverse in or out of which would explain their popularity)

"...So I went down one evening for snacks quite late and I managed to snag B8...ooh that was quite a moment in my life."

His next challenge? "I've got my eye on Lidl. But how do you go up from this?"

I like his style - and it's an excuse to revisit something I wrote on the subject many years ago when I was nearer his age: Metro's Car Blog - Shopping Trip

Flight of Fancy

 Caught this twerp on my Dashcam yesterday morning:

I assumed, going by the fact that it was a small Fiesta with a big exhaust pipe that it would be a young lad - a boy-racer if you will.

I was right.

When I pulled alongside him at the next set of traffic lights, he was replete with hoodie and vaping cigarette.

So why have I got a grudging respect for the one driving the car in this next video?

Is it because he achieves air IN A HYUNDAI SANTA FE!?

It's probably because I'd quite like to have a go at that myself.

Given the damage, I think I would also wish to be using somebody else's Hyundai Santa Fe:

This article by Car+Driver writer Ezra Dyer covers the story in an entertaining manner.

Although, if you want an even more impressive jump, you need to check out the Tower Bridge Website.

Creating a Monster

 Albeit a cute one:

Looks better from the rear though:

The front reminds me too much of Tina from Bob's Burgers:

So what is this mystery car that looks so much like a Mark I Hyundai Pony?

It's actually a Mark I Hyundai Pony.  It has been disassembled and rebuilt by Hyundai to celebrate their new customer centre in Busan, Korea. They have added an electric motor and some other funky touches. Car+Driver have the story here.

One of my favourite funky touches is the Nixie tubes in the dash display:

I never even knew that those things were called "Nixie Tubes"

So what is "the monster" of which I speak?

Is it from a film as scary as Dracula or La La Land?

No.

I am talking about the gigantic motoring conglomerate that is Hyundai/Kia and which was created, or at least grown, with a bit of help (including the Mark I Pony in the photo above) from British Leyland.  That story is here.

Now a film of the story of British Leyland WOULD be a horror movie.

Tesla Charging Problems

Doesn't sound like an interesting post title does it?

But it isn't that type of charging.

And it has affected Christopher Lee.

No, not that Christopher Lee.  We established yesterday that I don't like horror movies.

The Christopher Lee in this Car+Driver story (as opposed to that Bram Stoker story) is a You-Tuber who was among many Tesla purchasers who found that his Bank Account had been debited twice for his car.

Tesla aren't commenting.

Now there's a problem to get your teeth into.

Horse Jam

I don't really like horror films.  Especially ones that are not advertised as horror films.  I started watching a film once - it started with a group of motorists stuck in a traffic jam.  If that wasn't bad enough, a large number of vandals suddenly appeared and started to damage the bonnets and roof panels of the stranded cars.  And to make it worse, there was plinky, jolly music being played over it all.

I switched channels and vowed never to watch any of La La Land again.

This photo reminded me of that:

It is from this BBC story about a traffic jam in North Wales caused by a horse on the carriageway.

It is a bit misleading in that it makes it look like a major incident with an escaped horse although in reality, the traffic was stopped briefly by the Police so that the horse could be moved from a broken-down horsebox to a non-broken-down horsebox.  Even if the horseboxes had rear doors, (which they don't appear to) getting a horse that is already nervous about vandals on the roof safely along the roadside would be a nightmare - ha "mare" - geddit!?

What are you supposed to do when your horsebox breaks down anyway?

I've just renewed my breakdown recovery.  I was with AutoAid - not one of the big four - AA/RAC/National Breakdown/Green Flag but good value and they are big enough to sponsor BTCC cars:

So I was surprised to see I could be with Green Flag for 40p less.  I signed up for Green Flag and it's a good job there is a cooling off period because my wife spotted a bit about Excesses on the Policy Document - they wanted to charge me £40 for every call-out!  Bloody cheek!

I'm back with AutoAid.

I don't know if AutoAid cover horseboxes - if not, they may get saddled with a Green Flag policy.