11/11: BOYS & TOYS

David loves cars/buses/trains/aeroplanes - don't most men?   But as soon as we change our car he's looking to get the next one which gets quite boring at times.  As a retired Chartered Accountant he knows it isn't cost effective to keep upgrading to new cars every 2 or 3 years but he can't help himself it seems.

We've had 2 Nissan Qashqai's in succession now and I love them as they are roomy and very easy to drive but he's soooooo bored with them.    A couple of the cars he has test driven and brought home for wifely approval (or otherwise) have been struck off the list because of the sheer number of gadgets on the dashboard.  Some cars look more like airplanes than cars these days.    How do they get the designs past the health and safety people?    I think its bad enough that our current car has a computerised screen on the dashboard with telephone lists, personalised music selections, traffic data etc but the latest Qashqai has this on the dashboard

Not sure if you can read the small print but they boast that the car has upgradeable apps and updates ranging from  social media (Facebook etc)  to fuel prices, flight times, weather, news and sports updates.   How can they justify this stupidity?   Bad enough having drivers eating sandwiches, talking on mobile phones and smoking without having them access their Facebook accounts whilst driving!!

So ... the big new car debate in the Clinker household goes on and no doubt we'll eventually find something we both agree on .... perhaps life was simpler when we had a car each.

Today David went to Surrey to take a look at the new Kent/Surrey/Sussex Air Ambulance helicopter and meet other volunteers at a presentation day.   Their new helicopter contains all the equipment necessary for night-flying (a new concept) and carries an extra pilot, extra fuel and upgraded engines.    The service costs an extra £1million a year to fly at night in addition to the current £5million which has to be raised by volunteers.    

I had an appointment with the physio and as David had the car for the day I decided to brave the windy weather and walk to Whitstable for 'my session'.   Having saved the cost of the taxi he'd suggested I book, I thought I'd put the savings towards some new trousers (as you do) so spent a happy hour or so trying on leggings, jeggings and treggings - haven't actually worked out the difference but I believe jeggings and treggings are more substantial than just leggings.   I wanted something comfortable to wear instead of more formal trousers.   

So mission accomplished I set off to walk home by which time it was raining quite hard.

I remembered that a special Kentish Belle Armistice Day steam train was running a round trip from London Victoria to the Kent coast today and was stopping at Whitstable station to take on water.  It was scheduled to arrive at Whitstable at 2.40pm and leave again at 3pm.    As I walked past the station at 2.50 I thought I'd pop in and have a look .... the train hadn't arrived and I was told by one of the trainspotters there it was held up and would arrive within 20 minutes.   So I waited in order to take photos for David (he doesn't know how lucky he is sometimes) LOL     The 20 minutes stretched to 45 by which time I was very cold and very wet ... but I got some piccies - here are a couple:

There is something special about these old steam engines/trains isn't there?

So after my long walk, session with the physio - shoulder well and truly strapped up again - and my exciting wait at the railway station where I met some lovely people (not all anoraks) I finally got home just as it was getting dark so haven't done any artwork to speak of.

I did photograph the drawing in better light this morning so here she is again