¡InvictaMoto!

Since I bought the Insignia four years ago I have put 34000 miles on the clock. Apart from an annual service and tyres both end (once) and a new battery in Jan 18, it's not been too much of a problem. A broken spring after some Scottish potholes of monumental depth is about it. Forget about the local Kent drivers who on FOUR occasions have managed to run into it... Last evening I got home from dog walking, following Claire into the drive. The coolant light has been on for a few days and I guess that the level was low. On checking I could see it was about 2mm below the max line. I topped it up with about 200ml of clean tap water and that took it to the line. Dipped the oil and that was okay. To check the light and warning panel was off I started the engine. The steering wheel was stiff. The aircon was on but nothing came out of the vents. Then the warning lights for battery and charging all came on. I turned off. Like all good chaps I googled th...

I have gone over the paperwork so many times it has left copy marks on my retina! My last job was ordering some Norwegian currency from Thomas Cook. I did it online and arranged to collect the cash today. Only £60's worth. There wasn't much choice as all the other companies had very high minimums. My usual source, the Post Office, the minimum was £400! Norge dosh As we are on a cruise with pretty much all-inclusive food and drink I didn't want too much cash. We have plenty of cards to use if we buy anything. We have stops in Stavanger, Olden and Alesund and so we might need a few krone in the pockets in case of a coffee or maybe a postcard. Do people still send postcards? We have been to Stavanger and Olden before so we can be a little more relaxed and choose where we want to go rather than going at it like tourist bees.  . Alesund is new territory. I have a Rough Guide to Norway booklet I bought a while back to look at and also there will be Tripadvisor. We are due in Ber...

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has added its voice to demands that the appalling state of our roads is addressed. Road faults are damaging motorcycles and causing injury and death. MAG has backed the RAC's criticisms of the state of the roads in the UK. The damage to the road surfaces has been caused by limited repair budgets and extreme weather – both hot and cold – which the UK has recently experienced. David Bizley, RAC Chief Engineer, said: 'From a driver's point of view, our roads are still in a poor state of repair after the damage caused by 'The Beast from the East' and the generally harsh late winter conditions the country experienced.' The RAC recorded 4,091 pothole-related breakdowns between April and June – the highest figure for this three-month period since 2015. The figure includes breakdowns for the category 'likely to be attributed to damage caused by potholes and poor-quality road surfaces' – such as...

The heatwave continues unabated. It has been with us now all month. Our usual summer had a mixture of sun and showers. The high usually around 25°C and we swelter. A few days of sun together and people are stripping off in parks in big cities and at the beach. This year it has gone on all July with some temperatures have been around the 30 mark. The high for our generally temperate climate is apparently a mere 38.1°C. My car was trying for that as you can see above. The highest temperature I have experienced was when Claire and I were in Arizona. There was a freak hot spell in Phoenix that touched 110°F or 43.333333°C. It was also May. God only knows what it's like in high summer!! posted from Bloggeroid

At the moment it looks as though the destination for our 2019 main holiday will be the US and probably/possibly Florida. Now we are stuck with having school holidays along with the hordes and their kids to get two weeks together can only be Easter or Summer. On top of that there is the airfare to consider. Whilst I still have the timeshare I need to make the most use of it and the US gives the best value for money. It's a balancing act, on the one hand the higher airfare but far better resorts, or lower airfare (or drive) and lower standard but expensive resorts. What the Americans consider low in value at home would be much higher priced in Spain! Last year we stayed in Pompano Beach, disrupted due to the hurricanes,. but the studio was far better appointed and situated than most we have tried in Spain and that cost considerably more. Currently I am looking at airfares to see what deals there are. So many airlines are rogering us with added payments. Basically all you get for your...

The run began in Bexhill but it meant getting up way too early for me on a Sunday.  As it was it was lucky that I didn't go that far. More of that later. I decided to meet up at the midway point at Dungeness by the Light Railway Station.  I wasn't alone as fellow Meldrew Ian Gardner was going there as well.   Three others, Cal, Neil and Graham had met up at the regular Blue & White earlier in the morning to ride to Bexhill and then come back with the run itself. I arrived just before ten to see Ian had parked on the main gravel car-park by the railway station and cafe.  I parked in front of him.  We were joined by a couple of other riders and sat down to chat as bikers do. No names and probably never meet again, but instant camaraderie.   No posing and no bullshit . The first marshal appeared on the long drive w into the estate. Dungeness is the western most point on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway .  It is also the home of the Du...

One of the landmarks in Hythe is the Royal Military Canal . It was built as a form of defence for Romney Marsh in case of an invasion by the French under the command of Bonaparte. The marsh could be flooded but once an invasion began it would take too long to flood it. So a water filled ditch seemed like a great idea. And over 200 years later it is still there. Over the years Hythe has gone from one of the original " Cinque Ports " (court language at the time was French!) to being around half a mile from the coast.  This caused by silting up of the English side of the Channel and what they call "withdrawing of the sea". We walk a section every night with the dog.   The "town" sections on each side are paved but other sections are gravel and often simply grass.   It is still possible to see that the northern bank still has the higher frontage and the military road behind is effectively sunken and would allow troops of the day to move relatively ...

I had originally planned the trip to the Assen round of BSB   as a weekend away for me and Claire in the car but since the disappointment of the MotoGP at Assen it has got a little bigger. We have Claire's hip operation hanging over us and until we get a firm date or even a hint of roughly when it will be, it is difficult to start making to many hard plans. I had booked a twin room in hotel we have stayed at a few times before (in 2009 / 2010 ) before at De Wapse. Claire and I will still need to go in the car and Neill may still want to ride his BMW "Ginny" up there. So with three of us we need another room.  De Wapse was oddly full on the Friday night and I had booked Sat/Sun nights.   Neill has booked two rooms elsewhere from Friday to Monday, three nights.   At the moment it all hinges on the hip op.   Of course, Reggie still needs to go on his holiday and that will complicate things a little and at £14 a day I'd rather not have him there long...

With the uncertainty about when Claire will get her hip replacement operation I decided to cancel our booking to attend the Australian commemoration at the  Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, in France. The closing date for tickets was way back last year and I had entered the ballot for both Claire and myself. We were successful, So that they can re-allocate to someone else I decided to cancel now. It would be one of those events that will never be repeated, but there you go.

Claire has been looking for something to get involved with. Something where she can contribute to society. She has recently begun to volunteer to raise money for the Guide Dogs charity. She did half a day at the school fete in Lympne a few weeks ago and Reggie and I had a walk around the village to the 12C church. This last weekend she did another stint on the Guide Dogs stand in Hythe High Street for "Hythe Hullabaloo" Reggie stayed at home when we first went to the stand and I actually got the Canon DSLR out of the house. I took a few pics of the Armed Forces Day Parade. The band is from our local regiment the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment and they were followed by the British Legion standards and ex-servicemen. Princess of Wales Royal Regiment band Royal British Legion Standard bearers Ex-Servicemen Later in the day I went back (traffic horrendous) to collect her and Reggie came too. He was alright until the local cat strangl...

I first saw this film on my first ever visit to the Isle of Man in 1979. It was showing to packed houses at the Villa Marina all week.  Amazing for a comedy film made in 1935 starring one of music halls most famous acts - George Formby . Famous for some very risqué songs accompanied by a ukulele. Never crude. Never uttered a foul word. Just open to interpretation by the viewer/listener. He did play gormless George in most of his movies. Now that we have the DVD player working through the digital TV we ought to be able to watch. Failing that. We can watch on the laptop. In fact I'll take it to work tomorrow to see if it will play on my work (read junk) Lenovo. I bought this copy as it was specially remastered for the Centenary TT in 2007 when Claire and I last went over for the TT. Update: 19th July 2018 Watched a few scenes on my work laptop during my lunch break.  It has been digitally remastered and it does look very good. O...

I have seen many reports that codeine is addictive. I take it whenever I get an IBS flare up. Usually I am relieved within a few hours but this week I have found that it was less effective.  Maybe after twenty plus years of irregular usage that I am becoming too used to it, therefore it's effectiveness is reduced? One for the medical experts I guess.

What kind of plum walks around the parking at the rendezvous looking for Rockets and forgets his own. Me? At least my brother took one of his BMW and got Pepé in too I was up early for a weekend. Alarm set for 0735 and on the road at 0830. The plan to stop for fuel and meet my brother. Traffic was a little heavier than expected and I arrived at the Esso at Cobham on the A2 about 0920. Filled up and then had a coffee and pain chocolat. Whilst waiting for Neill I had a chat with fellow Meldrew Ian who was in his truck and saw me pass him. From Cobham it was a boring hour up the M25 and then M11 to the RDV at Cambridge Services. A chat and then a wander around. It was very hot again. By the time I got there my legs and personals were a little hot too. At least I had my bandana... I just need to grow a longer fuller beard to be a real biker. There were around 300 bikes and as it worked out we were in the second row of the last column to leave. I had a look for other Rockets and some decent...