Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Growing up fast!
It’s so weird. I mean, it was only like a few years ago that mum was always shouting at me that she wasn’t a taxi.
Now I’ve had my own licence for a few years, have been through a Peugeot 206, a Renault Clio, and am now the proud owner of a Vauxhall Vectra (my friends say this makes me square).
If that wasn’t weird enough – on top of actually driving my own car to my own job and being paid in real money, now a few of my friends have gone and had babies.
I often say to them, “C’mon, girls, you’re letting the team down! We’re meant to be the young ones! All the other people are the grown-ups, not us – we’re the kids!”
Still, at least I get to be a godmother, which is pretty cool – although, like I said to Natalia when she asked me if I’d take the job, I’d much rather be known as a godsister to little Keira (it suits me more, I think).
Anyway, I’m still getting my head around things like paying into my pension, paying for car insurance, and saving a deposit for a house. I could do without the added stress of pregnancy, children’s clothes, and the school and nursery run.
On the subject of the school run, What Car? recently discovered that it adds around £52 to the cost of petrol each year. But to be honest, I’m more worried about the 52 extra wrinkles each year you get being a parent.
I’m staying young!!!
Image © jencu via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Now I’ve had my own licence for a few years, have been through a Peugeot 206, a Renault Clio, and am now the proud owner of a Vauxhall Vectra (my friends say this makes me square).If that wasn’t weird enough – on top of actually driving my own car to my own job and being paid in real money, now a few of my friends have gone and had babies.
I often say to them, “C’mon, girls, you’re letting the team down! We’re meant to be the young ones! All the other people are the grown-ups, not us – we’re the kids!”
Still, at least I get to be a godmother, which is pretty cool – although, like I said to Natalia when she asked me if I’d take the job, I’d much rather be known as a godsister to little Keira (it suits me more, I think).
Anyway, I’m still getting my head around things like paying into my pension, paying for car insurance, and saving a deposit for a house. I could do without the added stress of pregnancy, children’s clothes, and the school and nursery run.
On the subject of the school run, What Car? recently discovered that it adds around £52 to the cost of petrol each year. But to be honest, I’m more worried about the 52 extra wrinkles each year you get being a parent.
I’m staying young!!!
Image © jencu via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, insurance, licence, petrol, Peugeot, Renault Clio, taxi, Vauxhall
Thursday, May 19, 2011
A buzzar problem
If you think petrol prices, car maintenance, road tax and insurance premiums are a problem – one motorist forgot about them all for a while when she came outside to find that a large swarm of bees had landed on her car and the little creatures were making themselves comfortable.
The woman driver, from Somerset, explained, “My neighbour knocked on my door to tell me a swarm had landed. I could hardly believe it – it was an incredible sight.
“I have no idea why they picked my car. There was no food for them here, but they seemed to be attracted by the fuel cap at the back of the vehicle.”Bees are occasionally seen clinging to vehicles and other strange objects, much to the surprise of passers-by and the owners, during their spring reproductive cycles. Sometimes they are looking for a sheltered place to make a hive.
The woman waited to see if they’d buzz off (sorry), but eventually after two hours she called a bee-keeper to move them on.
If you go to your car one day to find a swarm of bees attached to it – don’t try to move them yourself. Wait to see if they leave without help and then, if they don’t, call a bee-keeper who can safely remove them for you.
That way, you have your car back, and the bees can go on to find a safer place to settle.
Image by kaibara87 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, insurance, maintenance, motorist, petrol prices, premiums, road tax
Monday, December 20, 2010
James Bond dreams crushed. Just don’t go bananas, Herbie
My nephew is one lucky boy. He’s just turned 18 and he’s been bought his first car.Like many a lad of his age he’s spent much of the past five years dreaming of freedom and the open road. He’s also spent a great deal of time fantasising about the vehicle he’ll be road-tripping in.
Top of his list was a James Bond-style Aston Martin, or a Hummer H2. But, failing that, he admitted to my sister that he was prepared to settle for something cheaper.
“Like what?” she asked him.
“Oh, you know – something simple.” He replied. He then went on to compile a list of “budget” supercars such as the Nissan GT-R, Mitsubishi Evo or Subaru WRX.
The problem with this, I pointed out, like the most annoying of uncles, is that the vehicle may be “budget” but the insurance won’t be. In fact, as a young driver, even with low mileage cover, the cheapest car insurance he’d find for one of these vehicles is likely to easily reach a four-figure sum.
Actually, this bit of information proved to be irresistible to my sister. In the year leading up to his birthday, whenever my nephew misbehaved, my sister threatened to buy him the GT-R of his dreams, knowing full well that it would prove impossible to insure and just sit in the garage cruelly mocking him.
The car he got? A classic Herbie-style VW Beetle – the lucky lad.
Image © RUD66 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance for young drivers, insurance, low mileage cover