jamesm

Last night was crazy. Left work in Greenock at 3.30pm and was pushing 6pm by the time I got home to Dunlop, a journey which normally takes 45 mins. I don't normally commute in the Subaru but had luckily taken it as the roads in Ayrshire were already really bad from Monday's snow. I would never have made some of the hills on the Ayrshire back roads otherwise. The awd really comes into its own when you live out in the sticks. The gritting was non-existent and not a snowplough in sight. But then, who needs snowploughs though when you can just use the front of the car!

Nice one. Best colour too!

Nice one. The number of times I wish something like that would happen! Always good to see someone get pulled after a dose of seriously bad driving.

Wednesday 1. STI Pretender 2. Terzo neil (if not at back of beyound) 3. JamesM Saturday 1. STI Pretender 2. Micra-WRC 3. Midnight21 4.

If the property is a flat (ie someone above or below you) or if you are within a conservation area you will require planning permission. If you are accessing onto a classified road, you will also require planning permission. You will need consent from the roads dept to both cross the footway and lower the kerb, but given the cost, probably worth just chancing it. Check your title deeds too. Many have strange clauses that restrict the use of the front garden to ornamental planting and lawn only, particularly in more modern properties (I am not allowed to grow vegetables in the front garden for instance). Unlikely anyone would ever question what is in the titles but if you have a neighbour that really doesn't like you and just wants to make trouble, you could have problems.

As long as you don't actually tell them it is an STI when it is not, then I would just accept the price they wanted to offer. A few years ago my parents traded in a base model which had all the extras on it to make it look like a much higher spec car. They correctly told him what model it was but being a typical salesman, didn't listen and assumed it was the higher spec car. My parents didn't realise and the first they knew they have been given too high a price for the trade-in was three days after the dropped it off when the garage phoned up to tell them. By then the deal was done and the garage had no come back. I am sure the salesman got a very large boot up the backside.

Thought that yesterday browsing Pistonheads. Saw 3 or 4 advertised as an STI which clearly weren't. Just waiting for the first unsuspecting punter to come along!

£640 with Keith Michaels (£300 excess). 30 year old with a reasonably standard 2002 WRX, 8 years NCB but an at fault claim in 2007, business use and parked on the road. Now going to have it garaged so hopefully it will come down a wee bit. No one else ever comes close to KM abet I have never tried A-plan. Will need to give them a go at renewal time.

Barely had it 5 mins and been to see Andy F already.

First time this has happened to me. Pretty sure it would be one of the kids that hang about at the church at the bottom of the Main Street. It was parked there at the time. Nice welcome to the new village! It isn't through to the metal, but it will be too deep to polish out. JB Coachworks in Paisley?

Car has been parked on the road for the last few months since moving. Discovered the other day that some wee ned had done this. This in a quiet village where not even the bus shelter is vandalised! Ironically, it was done on the last night before I got the new house with a garage for it.

1. McTwist 2. Mrs McTwist 3. Greersport 4. Mrs Greersport 5. Meercat Exhaust 6. Mrs Meercat 7. Grant 8. Imy 9. Terzo neil 10. Badbaz 11. Mrs Badbaz 12. STI Pretender 13. Mrs STI Pretender 14. Ally-b 15. wrx kenny 16.wrx kenny + nic 17. jimser 18. caitlin 19. gary d 20. leslie 21. yellow craig 22. louise 23. Ed-209 24. kennyuk300 25.Mrs kennyuk300 26. JamesM 27. MrsM

You taken up poetry in your absence?

Thought it looked like you. Car still looking very shiny! Going from Beith towards Lochwinnoch is north I was behind the cattle truck waiting to get out. Normally if you get there by 8am, you never wait more than a minute or two. Unless like this morning, you get stuck behind an articulated cattle truck. I always think the Gateside Road end looks worse though. There is talk of a roundabout going in at the Barrmill Road junction. But not until at least 2011/2012

Sorry to see you step down. In the three years I have been here you have done a great job and made everyone feel very welcome.

Excellent news. Good luck with the new role Robert.

Very nice. Good looking motor and nice miles. Enjoy.

You were heading north whilst I was waiting to join at the Barrmill Road end. I was in my silver Corolla.

Got to agree there. On the A77 all the time and sitting with one eye on the speedo and one eye on the road is hardly ideal. As for the A80, along that loads too visiting the parents. I have always tried to sit at 40 but do vary a little to go with the flow of the traffic as I found it sometimes safer to do that. Speed limits are beginning to lose credibility in some cases. On the A80, you could batter through the old Auchenkilns Roundabout at 70mph yet when they build a new ultra safe grade separated junction, it gets reduced to 50mph. The M80 Stepps bypass is a 50, yet the notorious A9 north of Perth is a 60 (70 in the dualled sections).

Good news for the WRC. Will be interesting to see how Block gets on. He is a character that the WRC sorely needs. Odd that he is putting together a deal for selective events in the last year of the current World Rally Cars rather than putting all resources into entering the championship in 2011 at the same time as the new gen of WRCars. But then, learn some events next year and hopefully be competitive the following year when everyone is starting off with the new breed of cars. Either way, his entry can only be a good thing for the championship.

So if people aren't nice to you, you can flick the switch!! My broadband is just 2Mbps, and I am only 8 miles from Kilmarnock!

You have electricity and the internet up there?

Yup, was one of those in red. New one on me.

Heading along the A737 at Beith this morning about 7.45, passed what looked like a Classic WRX Wagon in red and silver, with bull bars and a spare wheel mounted externally like a 4x4.

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/carmosaic/SU...WEB?feat=email# The link to the set of photos I found. Not seen the 2010 book but all the searches on the net bring up the McRae Gathering record. I found those photos by pure chance. I would be seriously following it up with the GWR people and getting them to explain what the dickens is going on. Especially when £2k was paid to get them there on the day.