HairyDJ

good to see you old timers are still managing to draw breath miss getting along to the old meets - so many "originals" have moved on .....

always good to know - I've relied on these folk for years http://www.pocketgpsworld.com got me free life membership by being the first to submit a new camera site a few years ago. I use it on tomtom, but the new app seems really popular. Also got free satnav POI data (including shell fuel and race circuits of course!)

Any of you get there early enough to see Wimpy on the 10:00 slot? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-16124944

If you can't get ebay involved due to not using paypal, then speak with your own bank's fraud department. They may not be too keen to bother unless you pressure them, but getting the bad guys' account flagged as linked to a fraud complaint can come in handy. Might get you little help, but could stop another getting stiffed and ultimately no bank = no business

Specifics on Somerset Stages marshalling via http://www.somersetstagesrally.com/marshalls.html Take a tour of http://www.volunteersinmotorsport.co.uk/ for more info on getting started. Rally marshalling can have a higher proportion of "people management" due to the nature of forest stages etc, but some are on closed sites such as MOD sites or airfields which are competitors / officials only with no public access. Also worth a look at http://www.aswmc.org.uk/marshal.htm and maybe contact Roger for more info later? http://www.marshals.co.uk/ and http://www.brmc.org.uk/ are the two main members' sites for marshalling - loads of dates / contacts etc. Cheers, David

If the organisers are being quite specific that the ONLY spectator viewing area is the advertised one, ought a nice respectable club like SIDC be discussing or considering going to other stages when they specifically ask that this doesn't happen? If you want to do closed stages, then train and attend as a marshal

http://www.abingdonfayre.com Sunday 8th May

Maybe gone, but not forgotten

Keep them going please Imy - I read them and am still fascinated to see how the ball is rolling on and on .... Don't judge a thread by the number of replies, or even the read count - your subject lines keep the name and memories alive.

Ok, here goes with a “South of the Border view” as requested. I’ve been skulking around here for about 5 years now – joined up just before Wilky’s manic Richard Burns run. At that time, the club was full of people and events that really added to the fun of Scooby ownership. Over the years, I’ve noticed that SIDC is just like all the other clubs & societies I’ve been part of – we have highs & lows, we make good friends, and we have fallings out. That’s life chaps! Whilst I’m all for civilised debate, I accept that things do get heated at times and sometimes a few sweary filter dodgers can make a point effectively / strongly with the odd # - annoys me less that text speek. Also, remember that the D in SIDC stands for Drivers – we should not run our club / forum to allow for the presence of those under the legal driving age. What SIDC does seem to have more than its fair share of is people who work hard for the club, but then take too long to realise that it’s time to stand down & take a break. So many of those who have done good things have then vanished in anger, and we’ve pretty much lost them completely ever since. What we really seemed to do well was to act as a gathering point for various groups to get to know one another and then squabble and break away .... I feel that what destroyed the credibility of the previous committee was the way so little was announced to members (or non-members), yet there seemed to be a fair number of people who knew much of what had not been made public. I really want the new committee to learn from this and be much more open, but with that openness, we need to be a little less quick to dive in and slag them off if we disagree with something announced or proposed. Maybe things would be helped by making “business” announcements from specific user accounts, rather than personal accounts with “officer” labels? For example, let Stu make his True Grip announcements from an editor’s account, and leave him free to speak openly with his personal opinions from his normal account. Similarly, let our Chairmen, Secretaries etc. be “one of the lads” from personal accounts, whilst running their admin stuff separately. A bit of extra login / out hassle for them, but easier for anybody to search for business related posts by username? My biggest gripe over the past few years has been the unacceptable secrecy regarding our financial affairs, so I am genuinely looking forward to finding out what has happened in the past and what state we find ourselves in now. The rumours that are creeping out about being in a poor state currently worry me, but better to know and plan, than continue to blunder on blindly. Hopefully, the financial position will be published shortly before the AGM, to allow any responses and AGM decisions to be well thought through and considered, rather than knee-jerk / waffle in the heat of the moment? If, for example, it will take a third of our subscriptions to fund the SIDC forum would that change attitudes regarding paid membership? Personally, I renewed last time just to get my discount from my dealership, but will definitely renew this summer to give the new team a full year to show us if / how things have changed.

got 15k out of mine so far and down to about 4mm - worst wear was on the front insides. Seems really strange for rears to be so different from fronts in such a short time

Welcome to the frozen South Chris Look forward to flashing your wee beastie if you drift a little bit further West any time. Blue wagon (54 plate) with McRae & Burns stickers on the front. A few of the folk around here run at the Pod from time to time, so I'm sure the Death Star will get a good welcome if you give it a run. Cheers, David

Yaris or a Smart as your loan car? and for those who don't recognise it, CS = Cotswold Subaru. Between us, we're keeping them nice and busy. Fingers crossed for a quick fix (with the usual SIDC discount too).

missin' ya awwlreaaady xx Thanks for all the effort you've put in - hope the rewarding days made the others worthwhile .... Cheers, David & Chrissy

hope they had the real owners at the wheel, given the number of problems in that area over the past few months!

Saw a scoob at the weekend (Princes Risborough) with a merc 3 pointed star over the proper badge

Have the evening off to enjoy yourself Mark

welcome to the winter club Your expert may be right when he says that the chunky tread should be best - but only on the worst of days! Get a quality tyre and remember that most of your winter miles will be on normal dry or wet tarmac, not a blizzard. Also, if you're only running this rubber for a few months, they'll last ages so cheapo stuff may not last as long?

most folk seem to order 4 "just in case" and I'm sure that WSR budget for a high proportion of no shows. I've got 4 spares too Not too many true motorsport fans seem to go - most are families jumping at a free day out. Dad gets full of ale, mum gets sunburnt and the kids run around unsupervised. Oh, and the traffic queues to get in and out are diabolical. Expect to pay a fortune for burgers and to queue for ages for food & loo too. I'm not saying don't go, just be prepared ...... I'm there both days in the orange romper suit, so if you do go then say hello

not a smart move with budget cuts needing reductions in staff the ironic bit will be if the scrote gets a brand new car and then a year's ban for drunk driving

Why thank you chaps! Chrissy dragged me out for a nice lunch, so now sitting at home feeling far too full - but just room to reach the laptop and catch up on the goss Cheers, David

Wouldn't want to unduly influence the choices, given that we struggle to get out to play anywhere for a while If we do ever manage to meet up, we'd prefer somewhere with food - either lunch or evening. It's nice to build up a relationship with a particular venue, especially if we'd like a safe corner of the car park set aside, but some variety in location & food type might bump up the incentive to show up? Most groups seem to struggle to all make it at the same time, but it could be fun (and a nice public show) to meet up in one location and then a short (5-10 miles) convoy to the main meet & eat. The old Marston Moretaine to Dunstable run worked well, and the Herts folk used to run up & back to bucks meets. Being so heavily committed at weekends, I'd be keen to see a list of dates sorted for the year - rather than a few week's notice. Is every month overdoing it? Cheers, David & Chrissy

not seen anything else apart from the thread here http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtop...0&p=1373385

We're out to play marshalling this event, but wondered if any of you local folk were coming to watch? Entry is pretty cheap - minimum charity donation of £3 http://www.abingdoncarnival.com/html/spectators.html http://www.abingdoncarnival.com/2010_Prog_Final.pdf The last few years, the rally winner has been an Impreza, and there's a good chance this year will be the same

brace yourself Mark - need to sort out booking mine in for a biggie - just reached the magic 100k and all serviced by you folk throughout