...the Smart is heading for its 6th birthday, and is booked for its MOT tomorrow.
It was used for the supermarket run this morning (SWMBOs first driving outing since breaking her arm).
I locked the car as we got out, and noticed the rear o/s indicator didn't flash (as it should when locking). Checked the indicators, and sure enough the dashboard light flashed like a demented thing - unreported by SWMBO.
It's an amber bulb, and I was reasonably sure I had one in my "box of bits" that lives in the motorhome, so it should be a quick fix. Unfortunately, we had passed several people building arks on the way (yes, it is raining that fast).
Anyway, I waited for a slight lull, and then tackled the job. It would have been a doddle without the rain. Two torx screws out, pull against two trim plugs (one need some persuasion with a flat chisel) and the entire light cluster was left hanging by the wire. Ease the connector off (easier said than done) and take the whole, still sealed, unit inside to keep it dry. Quick 4 clips off to remove the bulb holder, change the bulb, reverse the whole process, and Bob's your sister's husband.
I wasn't looking forward to it in the rain, but it wasn't the most onerous of jobs, and it would have been worse if I hadn't noticed it until tomorrow (or missed it completely). I usually do a quick check round lights, wipers etc. before heading off to MOT, but the weather here is atrocious at the moment.
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The Chevy failed it's MOT a couple of weeks ago:
"Offside washer jet weak"
A thumb over the nearside jet to blow out the crud and hey-presto.
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...and just when I thought I'd had my unwanted job for the day, SWMBO, in making soup with the liquidiser, has let the lid fly off.
You can imagine what the kitchen looks like. Most of the surfaces will wipe down, but the ceiling now needs repainting...........
...I am calm.....I am calm....I am calm....
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wonder what the third thing will be........
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... I've screwed the coordinates for Lviv up.....
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Its real pity you cant attach pictures on this forum :)
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I almost want to try that to see what happens. Almost.
What kind of soup was it?
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>>
>> What kind of soup was it?
>>
...tomato, carrot & courgette...
The lumpy bits were, I hope, carrot.
I could almost take "white with a hint of tomato" as a colour, if it were consistent and not "white with splotches of tomato".
The units and worktop are a relatively easy "wipe-clean". The walls have kitchen paint - and it has proven wipe-clean as well.
The ceiling, however, has demonstrated that matt-white splattered with soup most certainly isn't. Even after a good clean, about 40% of it will require probably two new coats.
FWIW, SWMBO is "shower-clean".
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>>I almost want to try that to see what happens. Almost
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...I'd clear it with your other half first.
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That has brought to the surface something that happened when I was a kid, kind of similar but less life threatening.
My mum, an intelligent and educated woman BTW, used to heat tins of veg etc in boiling water. I really don't know why. We had a lot of tinned stuff in those days when they didn't fly in out of season stuff from Peru.
One day she left a tin of peas in a pan of boiling water on the stove. I and my brother were probably outside, Dad was out, and by great good fortune Mum was doing something in another room which is probably how she forgot she had put the pan on.
It boiled dry, and the tin exploded very audibly. They go on the side seam. Had there been anybody in the room there might have been a death by superheated peas. The mess was unbelievable, and largely on the upper walls and ceiling. Maybe the individual peas exploded, I don't recall there being any identifiably spherical ones.
I never heard of anyone else having a similar accident. Many years later there was a chip pan fire, that resulted in redecoration but was less traumatising than the great pea disaster.
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...I have distinct memories of my Grandfather vigorously shaking a jar/bottle of tomato ketchup to loosen it up. Unfortunately, the top wasn't screwed on.....
Must've been at least 60 years ago; these things stick to with you.
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>> ...I have distinct memories of my Grandfather vigorously shaking a jar/bottle of tomato ketchup to
>> loosen it up. Unfortunately, the top wasn't screwed on.....
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>> Must've been at least 60 years ago; these things stick to with you.
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Shaking a Coke tin before innocently handing it to a mate and standing well back as he got hold of the pull ring was a good one.
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Not forgetting those party 4 and party 7 cans.
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As funny today as it has always been. Trouble is there is always that day called 'Catch ems'.
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...well, at least it passed with no advisories (that's the 6th year, (3rd MOT) so not bad).
MB service prices for a Smart car are a bit of a tax, but the car is VED free, high MPG and low insurance, so not to worry (and the continued MB servicing renews the annual roadside assistance for free).
A stark reminder of why I don't like main dealers, though. I agreed with the booking that they should renew the coolant (it's one of the "additional operations" on the service schedule at 6 years).
When I got there, they tried to get me to agree to two more "MB additional operations":
- Check the headlight alignment - how likely was I to agree to that when they were MOTing the vehicle in the same session!?
- Brake fluid change (every two years) - this set alarm bells ringing.
I declined both. When I got the service paperwork containing the service schedule, both of these were additional operations "at three years, and subsequently every two years". The brake fluid had been done to schedule at 3 and 5 years (I thought it was last year I'd agreed it!). Neither were required this year, and I hadn't been asked about the headlights previously (presumably because someone had realised the alignment with the MOT - all done at service time).
Not impressed with that!
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MOT Inconvenience - Kevin
