2015 — 21 July: Tuesday
After further chit-chat with my about-to-depart sibling — and a nice final evening meal1 out together yesterday — he persuaded me that since I wasn't really being offered such a great trade-in deal for my lovely little Yaris there might be a better method of getting it off my hands. I like to think his cunning plan could have occurred to me — things do still, on occasion. (Though generally not car-related things, I admit. Let alone smart deals.)
So I've now decided simply to:
- give the Yaris to my son (who received the idea with delight, I'm happy to say)
- pay the miserly extra trade-in price to the Mazda dealer (who will receive the idea with delight, I expect) and
- try to get said dealer to agree to "valet" the thing, and perhaps even fix the minor "duelling scar" in its rear bumper.
That "scar" has been there since November 2007, in fact, and my shockingly unplanned encounter with a bollard at the Carphone Warehouse in Hedge End. I'd called in to buy Christa a new mobile phone (for speaking to her family2 in Germany from the hospice).
I chose "Bobby"...
... for our final film of this visit. Big Bro had never seen it, and I'd only replaced my original copy a few months ago, after I eventually noticed it had gone AWOL, accompanied by its two fellow DVDs ("Recount" and "Religulous") all from January 2011. (I sometimes think I need a better way of tracking things I lend to people; rather than risk being thought obsessive, I generally lie down until such thoughts pass.) I harbour suspicions that Junior could be the culprit, though he's denied the accusation.
Right! Time to stew a breakfast plum.
I'm convinced...
... this has never, ever, happened before in the entire history of capitalism. Well, not since last week, perhaps:
Within Toshiba, there was a corporate culture in which one could not go against the wishes of superiors, the report said.
Therefore, when top management presented 'challenges', division presidents, line managers and employees below them continually carried out inappropriate accounting practices to meet targets in line with the
wishes of their superiors.
Certainly not in IBM. The auditors would have picked it up.
I've just enjoyed...
... a nice, peaceful, lemonses cuppa after Big Bro's departure — which left the house feeling both empty and quiet — for Heathrow. He's been here for two weeks — about the longest we've spent together since the parental home over 45 years ago. But his UK brother-in-law is now in hospital, so I fear Lis and John could now be back quite soon. Life, heh?
I must now make enough room in my garage for the Mazda. It's been over seven years since I last had a good clearout! I predict some disassembly of the plastic-coated steel shelving that came with me from Old Windsor in 1981. It all makes work for the (non)-working man to do.
Photos from...
... Sunday's gathering of the Mounce clan have been arriving. They considerably boost one's spirits, I find. (Click the pic for a clearer version.)
Lunch helps, too. As does another cuppa, I suspect.
I suppose...
... it's possible that I'm not quite as young as I used to be. I snatched a quick and refreshing nap this afternoon, without even having drunk a pint of beer first. [Pause] I've been keeping an eye on the progress towards a fix for my loss of HP printing since upgrading a piece of HP software that was working perfectly well before I, erm, upgraded it. I shall be asking my fellow walker tomorrow about rolling back the newer software. Python scripts in the setup package should/may hold the secrets to such wrangling.
Leisurely study of...
... the Mazda2 information I snaffled yesterday is interesting. I chose the cheapest, smallest, automatic they make, but with sat nav and a rear parking proximity sensor. An Arctic White 90 PS SE-L Nav Auto. Annual road fund of £30 and insurance £80 less than the Yaris. Fuel economy? 46 to 65 mpg. I'm sure Christa would have approved.