(no subject)
Well, it's been a messy month for me. Things have been so damned interesting in my life that I've not really had a chance to post more than a few rambling words on other people's journals or upload some photos here and there.
And it all started with some good news?! :S
So, last month, I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST! Easily actually. I knew from about 5 minutes into the test that unless I careered out of control and smashed into something or someone I was pretty much clear. Why? Well, simply enough, it's much the same as what happened last time I tried to pass and failed. The test was entirely to do with the examiner, not my performance. It really shows up the system when you look at my performance in the two tests. Yes, I didn't stall this time and we didn't take that particular road where I was told I was going too fast (still under the speed limit but too fast in the examiner's opinion) but I still made mistakes. The driving instructor just liked me immediately because I'm in the gaming industry. We had a lovely chat the entire way round the test route and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. I got out, having accumulated only three, randomly positioned minor offenses (according to this examiner) and walked away no longer a pedestrian.
Now I had to get myself a car. And fast!! My regular lift is leaving the company at the end of the year. His wife left him about a month ago and he's moving back to London, into a new job and as far away from reminders of the situation as possible. I don't have any other reliable way of getting into the office so, personal transportation it is.
To this end, I went trawling through Auto-Trader websites, insurance companies, buyers guides, mechanical specification tables, review sites, newspapers, local ads and nearby garages. I found loads of potential purchases but at every turn I was told they'd already gone or that the advertisement was giving the wrong price. I managed to look at one that seemed promising but a little suspect that I had to travel 30 miles to see and, sure enough, it was so dodgy I worried about being able to leave at all, due to the guys selling it being rather large! On the other hand, every time I went to see a car, they just let me take it out by myself for a spin. No checking licenses, nothing. And I found that, contrary to my previous fears, driving by myself was not as terrifying as everyone had made out. In fact, it was a hell of a lot of fun! =)
I finally...well, hold up here. When I say "finally" it sounds like I took ages finding a car. I didn't. I got one less than 2 weeks after I'd passed my test. I was just very intense in my searching. With winter setting in, buses becoming increasingly unreliable and Christmas looming, I really, really needed to find something and with the shorter days and no transport to go and see the cars (which need to be viewed in daylight, preferably with no rain!) I had to either take days off work (which I just don't have) or look at weekends. So on the first weekend I was looking I viewed two and chose one.
It's a Hyundai Accent 1.5 GTX, if that means anything to you. For me...
it's Korean which means it'll be reliable
it's economic, with over 40 miles per gallon
it's got a big enough engine that it'll drive on the motorway without shaking apart
it's got a big enough boot to carry most of my stuff should I need to move
it's got good fans and heaters for winter and most importantly
it's got nothing hideous wrong with it!
Sure, it's got a few tiny scratches but no rust, someone's managed to scratch the inside of the windscreen but it's small enough that it doesn't represent even a distraction unless I really stare at it and the exhaust is a little loose, meaning that if I drive at certain speeds, a resonance is set up where it rattles a little. The gearbox is also a little 'notchey', meaning that you have to know it a little before you can slip into the gears easily. That's it! The good points more than outweigh the bad! It's got a lovely stereo, electric windows, air-con (!!!), fog lights, remote central locking, adjustable headlights and a SUNROOF!! It was £1795, down by £200 from the asking price. The insurance was another £450 and then there was the tax which was another chunk of money (can't remember how much).
Obviously this is a huge dent in my finances. Lots of money to make up for that was meant to be going into my account early last week.
It hasn't.
This means that I have to wait until I get paid on Thursday before I have money to buy the few presents needed for my friends and family and the petrol I need to get me up to Liverpool, where I'm getting the ferry across to Belfast on Friday evening. An 8+ hour ferry awaits me there. Home for Christmas, Liverpool for NY, back here on the 2nd. Phew! *exhausted*
Organising everything has obviously been arduous and time consuming but now that it's all sorted aside from the money, it's got to a point where I can spend the rest of my time getting things together for the hols. My apologies to all and sundry for my absence! I'll be around a lot more over the hols.
I had a good friend (Pauline) come and visit me last weekend when I found out I couldn't get up to Liverpool due to the finance situation. I had a fantastic time and I hope it'll be the first of many visits! She took some photos, which I'll upload this evening I think. We'll see. We went out, got drunk, lounged and did all those things that you need to after missing a good friend for a long time. Damn did I need that! Can't wait to do more of it over the holidays! =D
How're you all doing anyway? Miss me? ;)
And it all started with some good news?! :S
So, last month, I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST! Easily actually. I knew from about 5 minutes into the test that unless I careered out of control and smashed into something or someone I was pretty much clear. Why? Well, simply enough, it's much the same as what happened last time I tried to pass and failed. The test was entirely to do with the examiner, not my performance. It really shows up the system when you look at my performance in the two tests. Yes, I didn't stall this time and we didn't take that particular road where I was told I was going too fast (still under the speed limit but too fast in the examiner's opinion) but I still made mistakes. The driving instructor just liked me immediately because I'm in the gaming industry. We had a lovely chat the entire way round the test route and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. I got out, having accumulated only three, randomly positioned minor offenses (according to this examiner) and walked away no longer a pedestrian.
Now I had to get myself a car. And fast!! My regular lift is leaving the company at the end of the year. His wife left him about a month ago and he's moving back to London, into a new job and as far away from reminders of the situation as possible. I don't have any other reliable way of getting into the office so, personal transportation it is.
To this end, I went trawling through Auto-Trader websites, insurance companies, buyers guides, mechanical specification tables, review sites, newspapers, local ads and nearby garages. I found loads of potential purchases but at every turn I was told they'd already gone or that the advertisement was giving the wrong price. I managed to look at one that seemed promising but a little suspect that I had to travel 30 miles to see and, sure enough, it was so dodgy I worried about being able to leave at all, due to the guys selling it being rather large! On the other hand, every time I went to see a car, they just let me take it out by myself for a spin. No checking licenses, nothing. And I found that, contrary to my previous fears, driving by myself was not as terrifying as everyone had made out. In fact, it was a hell of a lot of fun! =)
I finally...well, hold up here. When I say "finally" it sounds like I took ages finding a car. I didn't. I got one less than 2 weeks after I'd passed my test. I was just very intense in my searching. With winter setting in, buses becoming increasingly unreliable and Christmas looming, I really, really needed to find something and with the shorter days and no transport to go and see the cars (which need to be viewed in daylight, preferably with no rain!) I had to either take days off work (which I just don't have) or look at weekends. So on the first weekend I was looking I viewed two and chose one.
It's a Hyundai Accent 1.5 GTX, if that means anything to you. For me...
it's Korean which means it'll be reliable
it's economic, with over 40 miles per gallon
it's got a big enough engine that it'll drive on the motorway without shaking apart
it's got a big enough boot to carry most of my stuff should I need to move
it's got good fans and heaters for winter and most importantly
it's got nothing hideous wrong with it!
Sure, it's got a few tiny scratches but no rust, someone's managed to scratch the inside of the windscreen but it's small enough that it doesn't represent even a distraction unless I really stare at it and the exhaust is a little loose, meaning that if I drive at certain speeds, a resonance is set up where it rattles a little. The gearbox is also a little 'notchey', meaning that you have to know it a little before you can slip into the gears easily. That's it! The good points more than outweigh the bad! It's got a lovely stereo, electric windows, air-con (!!!), fog lights, remote central locking, adjustable headlights and a SUNROOF!! It was £1795, down by £200 from the asking price. The insurance was another £450 and then there was the tax which was another chunk of money (can't remember how much).
Obviously this is a huge dent in my finances. Lots of money to make up for that was meant to be going into my account early last week.
It hasn't.
This means that I have to wait until I get paid on Thursday before I have money to buy the few presents needed for my friends and family and the petrol I need to get me up to Liverpool, where I'm getting the ferry across to Belfast on Friday evening. An 8+ hour ferry awaits me there. Home for Christmas, Liverpool for NY, back here on the 2nd. Phew! *exhausted*
Organising everything has obviously been arduous and time consuming but now that it's all sorted aside from the money, it's got to a point where I can spend the rest of my time getting things together for the hols. My apologies to all and sundry for my absence! I'll be around a lot more over the hols.
I had a good friend (Pauline) come and visit me last weekend when I found out I couldn't get up to Liverpool due to the finance situation. I had a fantastic time and I hope it'll be the first of many visits! She took some photos, which I'll upload this evening I think. We'll see. We went out, got drunk, lounged and did all those things that you need to after missing a good friend for a long time. Damn did I need that! Can't wait to do more of it over the holidays! =D
How're you all doing anyway? Miss me? ;)