So I guess I better introduce the new girl.
Meet Orla. She's a brand new Skoda Octavia SE L liftback, 148bhp manual 1.5 petrol.
I miss the Superbs but the prices are creeping up.

Other than full inspection wipe down in the dealership when she was picked up on the 22nd of September, this is her first proper clean.







Interior has quite thin chromed plastic strips, textured plastics, pressed plastics and alcantara seat base and backs as well as dashboard trim.




Rear seat protectors to prevent damage from sister's and step-brother's dogs. Grrr.

When a quick errand turns into a longer errand.
The other day I got a call from an elderly neighbour asking if I could bring her bedroom TV down as the living room TV packed in.
So I do.
I say I'll keep an eye out for something suitable at work to replace the broken one. Turns out there isn't something for her at my place.
So I take my Chromebook round using my BlackBerry as a hotspot as she's no internet.
Find the perfect TV and they can deliver it in an hour for £5. Go to order it and here's the thing, her card isn't set up for internet password and two part authentication.
So it says wait for her bank to phone her and confirm, we do, they we call them, they say that they don't phone, the seller does. Totally wrong but hey.
I give up and tell her we're going round to the store tomorrow lunchtime to pay in person.
Next day, very quick, jump in car, buy a TV, stick it in the car, sort out her coaxial cable that's needing tidied up, set up the living TV, return the bedroom TV back to where I got it from.
So that's all thrown my sleep to kilter as I usually have a 'nana nap' around the times I was sorting the TVs.
Doh.
One of my managers I don't always get on with has had a stressful time of it of late and I keep joking that I'll bring her a pre-mixed alcoholic drink for her to down (if her daughter is driving) when things require it.
So the other day I got a small bag, a Kool-pak (sports injury disposable instant cold pack) a can of Archers peach shnapps and lemonade and a large elastic band.
Gave it to her and told her to hide it and when the time comes. Open the bag, take the Kool-pak burst the sack inside, shake it up, wrap it around the can and use the elastic band around the bag wrapped can and leave for a couple of minutes, then enjoy.
It made her smile and laugh, so job done.
It doesn't matter whether it's a pro-longed errand or a couple of items in a bag, if you can make someone smile, it's worth it.

Roast lamb, honey roast parsnips, new potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and thick minted lamb gravy for your time.

Goodnight

I was undecided earlier whether to order a Papa Johns pizza (double pepperoni with pepperoni stuffed crust with added green peppers, mushrooms and cheese),
or get a doner kebab wrap and chips.
I put it off, then a few minutes ago thought, 'DONER',
So ordered two doner kebab wraps and a small portion of chips.
online order at 23:28,
delivered to my door 23:38

Finished work yesterday at 9am and did the sum total of f--k all all day.
Well, not quite.
I made beef stroganoff for dinner.

At 8pm, I thought I'd just get my head down for a couple of hours.
Only to wake at 3:30am
It's now 4am and need to be up at 6:40am to shower, shit and shave to go shopping at 7am.
Oh the exciting life I live.

Picked the new car up on Thursday 22nd September, only one set of keys.
Apparently Skoda are firing the cars out the factory now and so only have one set of keys.
Whether it's a real reason or not I don't know but we had to book the car back for a second key to be done.
The other day, went in to get the second key done, arrived early and waited, handed key over, they took the car out back, we waited some more, only to be told the computer was having issues and re'd have to come back.
While there booked the car to have the dashcam fitted (£210 fully fitted) and spare wheel put in (another £210) at some point.
Here's where it gets strange. The accessories tech comes out and asks if we want the car wired or hard wired (wires tucked away and hidden, etc...).
I looked at him confused and asked him to come with me to another Octavia and showed him the micro USB port on the rear view mirror and pointed to it.

The tech said, 'oh, that's nice'.
I explained it's there for a dashcam and he again said, 'oh, that's a really good idea'.
He told me he was only new to Skoda having come from BMW.
So I explained a few things about Skoda and after all of 20 minutes back and forward, I thought we were there.
But as I was leaving he said, 'if it needs hard wired, would that be okay as it'll cost more'.
The guy was so green behind the new job that even after explaining stuff too him, he still thought it may need to be hard wired and cost more when the whole thing of this dashcam was, '£210 fully fitted' on adverting literature and the sales man confirmed when we ordered the item.
Should be interesting when it goes in on Wednesday.
Doh.

Got peckish earlier.
Doner kebab meat, chips and pepperoni pizza for the win.

Have a Virgin Media advert for shits and giggles.

Three large buttered rolls.
Two of Cumberland sausages x2, bacon x6, brown sauce and runny fried egg and one bacon x6, brown sauce and runny. Fried egg.

Colleague's daughter is a nurse over in the north east and someone scraped their car down the side of her parked car in the hospital car park.
There is some dirt on the passenger side where the scrapes are so I've highlighted some.

Not bad, many scuffs and scrapes, some marking on the front and rear passenger seats, a few tar spots and general bits and bobs around the cabin.

Over an hour of hand polishing the scrapes out, vast majority came out leaving me to do a full clean and seal, anti bacterial interior wipe, shampoo front and rear seat bases, glass cleaned and tyres dressed.

Couldn't do anything about the dent in the crease.




Front passenger seat still a little damp


Spare wheel and toolkit out and cleaned,



Got a bottle of Teeling Single Grain for doing it.
I mean, who am I to say no.

I was out at a former colleagues house to clean her car.
She lives on former accommodation for the Defence Munitions property nearby.

To show how big this DMC is, this is an articulated vehicle next to one of the larger buildings.

The place was built as one of three munitions stores during WWII, this is the only remaining one, though many other locations have been built since then.
Any way, back to the car.
A 2008 metallic blue Peugeot 206.

Before

After (but of course it started to rain as I finished)







After, I went inside and chilled with the owners for a while. The former colleague said, 'you don't mind if we smoke.......................... weed do you!?', I was like, 'what?', then she said, 'do you want vb ?', I kindly declined and we sat and chatted, then their 18 year old daughter came in from work and started to roll a joint. They did about three joints each while I was there.
Onn the way home I was a little peckish and got myself a chicken balti and chicken biryani.
EDIT: what you can't see that well on the bonnet is a large square outline of glue residue.
Thankfully had just received a bottle of Auto Finesse ObliTARate gel. Just like it's spray on watery sister, ObliTARate, but the gel stays much longer without drying out. The owner had duct taped a learner badge on the bonnet. After
.

@Gabriella
Okay. High pain threshold be damned. Pain is your body trying to tell you something is wrong, you're over exerting, you're doing or have caused damage to yourself, etc... ignore the calls now and you'll get way more sustained calls in the future.
As any adult, we've all done it. Learn from our mistakes, because there is no going back for us but we can advise others not to follow.

@EssExTee
Was thinking the same thing.

@Gabriella
Now make sure you rest and do everything by the book, no 'but I'll just do this', or 'I can manage that'. BY THE BOOK!
It's not fun, but being unable to do certain things now means you won't be possible to do things a lot longer in the future.
I hope you make a full recovery

@farscythe
I've had my fourth, it was meant to be my fifth but I never got round to getting my fourth at the time (though the fourth was to be a booster).

@Nibby
The figures I have for 3 Series and X3 boot capacity are different, but I'm happy to be wrong.

@Nibby
Really? it certainly doesn't feel or look it.

@ttyymmnn
Big Ben is the large master bell in the tower than sounds on the hour*, the tower of Westminster Palace is called Queen Elizabeth Tower and the clock and four faces do not have a name that I'm aware of.
*If Big Ben in Queen Elizabeth Tower isn't working for whatever reason. An earlier Big Ben from the tower that's at St. Paul's, will sound on it's behalf.

@Nibby
No. I mentioned the less interior space on the X3 from the 3 Series and he said, 'going from the X5 to the 3 Series, it feel like driving a skateboard', in that it's so much lower to the ground.

@WhoIsTheLeader
The car is two years and three months old.
Owner misses the height of his X5.
No, the X3 is auto only.

@tophercrowder
This why you ONLY push it in an emergency. Lol.
Want to see hate. Stand in the middle or left hand side of the escalator. Then you'll see hate, oh and hear it and likely feel it to. Lol.
London escalators, walk up on left, if not walking, stand on right. Stand in the middle you may get barged out the way.

I took some bits of shopping round to the owner of the blue 3 Series estate yesterday and saw his car looking a little dirty.
I left the shopping outside after getting no answer and messaged him. He was busy cleaning the bathroom to hear me ring. I jokingly said he needs to wash his car afterwards.
H e told me he's getting his new car on Monday, new BMW X3 in white.
I asked him if he's going to wash it before taking it back to them.
He said he talked with the salesman and they said to just bring it in as is.
Well of course me said, that@s not right and asked if he wants me to clean it tomorrow before she goes on Monday.
Current car.
Metallic blue BMW 3 Series estate,

The new BMW X3 is at the dealership now.

Above is the actual car, below is what it should look like.

Looking forward to giving her her last full clean.