RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 4, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 4, 2023 1 hour ago, John Mat said: The Games master at my school couldn't understand why I gave up cricket for the summer term to play tennis instead (I was rather good at cricket at the time). Well as the school had ripped up it's own tennis courts to build a sports hall the nearest tennis courts were at the all girls school down the road.... Happy days! My boys grammar school, Cathays High in Cardiff, was a long building with a central block containing the assembly halls, as it was two separate schools in the same structure, with the girls next door. I also gave up cricket, which I was carp at anyway, for tennis, which I was passable hack good at and liked, helped by the public courts in the park at the bottom of our street. At the end of summer term, it was traditional for us to play with the girls (stop that at the back, now, grow up!) in various events, and as the little so-and-sos were armed in hockey (and as gentlemen we could not hit back) I avoided that and signed up for the tennis. I was drawn against a tiny little dwt (Welsh, very small) of a girl two years my junior who looked as if she wouldn't say boo to a goose feather, never mind the goose, and in a spirit of sportsmanship resolved to go easy on her. Now, anyone who has played competive singles will know that a skilled player can and will take great delight in humiliating an opponent, standing in the same spot and casually, almost carelessly, swatting anything the opposition manages to return like a slow fly, while your opponent runs dementedly backwards and forwards side to side, eventually dissolving into a bundle of stained sweaty rags and frustration. I wasn't about to do that to the poor child! You will have by now worked out what was about to happen. She proceeded to effortlessly wipe the floor with me in straight sets, in front of the entire sixth forms of both schools (including Janet Durnley, who I rather fancied and was doing ok with up to this point), rapidly reducing me to the aforementioned sweaty rags and utterly breaking me psychologically. She went on to become a Welsh Junior Regional Champion, and but for getting married, turning into a housewife, and having kids as they did in those days might have been Wimbledon material. She was fast!!! By the end I just wanted it to stop... It was brutal, so bad that even the Jocks were coming up to me afterwards, putting their arms around my shoulders and sympathising. It was the end of my tennis playing; I couldn't face it after that and switched to Badminton, which had the advatage of being out of the rain. My big sister, whose good Slazenger raquet I'd borrowed for the match in place of my Woolworth's fly swatter, took it back off me saying I'd disgraced it. Tennis. Girls. Not happy memories... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 1 hour ago, Hroth said: They've got to be "kit built" too, remember! You're definitely going to want this then. Such a bargain price too, they're charging no extra over a new kit for one that's been ....er........ assembled... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385449376470? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kernowtim Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Anyone for a vintage Model of a certain LNER pacific?? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255993764950 3 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 24 minutes ago, kernowtim said: Anyone for a vintage Model of a certain LNER pacific?? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255993764950 The seller has some wonderful old collectibles to be fair. That monstrosity is about the only thing that isn't. But there's a bid and it's for a good cause. Perhaps the winner will pay up and then give it a decent burial? At least unlike certain other vendors who have been rightly mocked on here, they're not trying to pass it off as an antique or better still "a wonderful piece in the naive and simplistic folk art style"... Naive because the maker is twelve and lives in Bangladesh... 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Vigor Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, MrWolf said: The seller has some wonderful old collectibles to be fair. That monstrosity is about the only thing that isn't. But there's a bid and it's for a good cause. Perhaps the winner will pay up and then give it a decent burial? At least unlike certain other vendors who have been rightly mocked on here, they're not trying to pass it off as an antique or better still "a wonderful piece in the naive and simplistic folk art style"... Naive because the maker is twelve and lives in Bangladesh... Or it was found bricked-up behind a wall in a long closed railway station in Swindon! Edited March 5, 2023 by Paul H Vigor to add information 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 5, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 5, 2023 11 hours ago, Hroth said: They've got to be "kit built" too, remember! And hopefully "Professionally Painted"! 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 5 hours ago, MrWolf said: The seller has some wonderful old collectibles to be fair. That monstrosity is about the only thing that isn't. But there's a bid and it's for a good cause. Perhaps the winner will pay up and then give it a decent burial? At least unlike certain other vendors who have been rightly mocked on here, they're not trying to pass it off as an antique or better still "a wonderful piece in the naive and simplistic folk art style"... Naive because the maker is twelve and lives in Bangladesh... There was a phase when those "things" were commonplace in tourist gifte shoppes, priced in the 60 quid region. I suppose they were given as presents to railway hobbyists by people who thought they'd like them... It looks like an anorexic 2MT A1 in its oilburning phase! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swissrail Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 8 hours ago, kernowtim said: Anyone for a vintage Model of a certain LNER pacific?? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255993764950 That thing's like a nightmare from a Tim Burton movie! 2 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Vigor Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 1 hour ago, Swissrail said: That thing's like a nightmare from a Tim Burton movie! The Loco From The Black Lagoon! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Vigor Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 4 hours ago, Hroth said: There was a phase when those "things" were commonplace in tourist gifte shoppes, priced in the 60 quid region. I suppose they were given as presents to railway hobbyists by people who thought they'd like them... It looks like an anorexic 2MT A1 in its oilburning phase! "But ... but ... it's a train, dear!" 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swissrail Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 The TMC pop up ad that I'm getting when I open this thread is now saying "pre-owned and second hand wanted". Can someone please explain the conceptual difference between pre-owned and second hand, because I'm damned if I can!? 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, Swissrail said: Can someone please explain the conceptual difference between pre-owned and second hand, because I'm damned if I can!? Its like old cars Pre-owned: Well cared for, service log book up to date and copious service history file too. Secondhand: As seen, you're lucky it got a current MOT. Thats how I see it! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 28 minutes ago, Swissrail said: The TMC pop up ad that I'm getting when I open this thread is now saying "pre-owned and second hand wanted". Can someone please explain the conceptual difference between pre-owned and second hand, because I'm damned if I can!? Pre owned, or even worse, Pre loved, is one of those fluffy, hullo clouds, hullo sky, rainbows and sunflowers phrases used to dress up the fact that you're buying secondhand. Definitely not because you're poor, but because you're, savvy, enlightened and doing your bit to save spaceship earth. Secondhand is something that small children fear, because other kids other kids might shout Haha Oxfam! at them for not wearing the right labels. Adults fear secondhand because it somehow implies that you aren't very bright, or were lazy and somehow failed at life. Secondhand is the Talbot Solara your dad drove because he worked in a factory. You're a success, you have a degree, (paid for by dad's overtime.) You must appear successful! Hence, a rented new car, a mortgage you can't afford and the need to call anything not new, (ie secondhand) pre owned. If it's for your little darlings, sugar coat it a little more and call it pre loved.... Copies of Wolf's English Dictionary are available, pre loved on Facebook and the car boot for as little as £1. That's a tree you're saving and £11.99 still in your pocket. Spend it on healthy avocados flown halfway round the planet.... 7 2 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Vigor Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 1 hour ago, MrWolf said: Pre owned, or even worse, Pre loved, is one of those fluffy, hullo clouds, hullo sky, rainbows and sunflowers phrases used to dress up the fact that you're buying secondhand. Definitely not because you're poor, but because you're, savvy, enlightened and doing your bit to save spaceship earth. Secondhand is something that small children fear, because other kids other kids might shout Haha Oxfam! at them for not wearing the right labels. Adults fear secondhand because it somehow implies that you aren't very bright, or were lazy and somehow failed at life. Secondhand is the Talbot Solara your dad drove because he worked in a factory. You're a success, you have a degree, (paid for by dad's overtime.) You must appear successful! Hence, a rented new car, a mortgage you can't afford and the need to call anything not new, (ie secondhand) pre owned. If it's for your little darlings, sugar coat it a little more and call it pre loved.... Copies of Wolf's English Dictionary are available, pre loved on Facebook and the car boot for as little as £1. That's a tree you're saving and £11.99 still in your pocket. Spend it on healthy avocados flown halfway round the planet.... 'Pre-owned' suggests something your could give to your grandmother as a present? Whilst 'secondhand' sounds rather grubby, resulting in one's significant other saying: "You're NOT bringing THAT in here!' 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) I've always considered "pre-loved" something that they never quite got the drool stains out of. Anyhow, it's better to live in a secondhand house, the rooms are often bigger and the ceilings higher than in a newbuild house on a desirable estate. And that reminds me, apart from those properties on house porn programmes like "Escape to the country", most secondhand houses were once on "desirable* developments"! * Depending on how you define desirable... Edited March 5, 2023 by Hroth 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kernowtim Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) I always assumed that pre-owned was like secondhand but dearer, however not quite as expensive as pre-loved! Edited March 5, 2023 by kernowtim 1 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastglosmog Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Pre-owned should logically relate to anything you buy in a shop however old it might be, as whatever it is, it was presumably owned by the shopkeeper before you bought it! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 5, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5, 2023 Secondhand, meaning something that you buy that isn't new, is a perfectly cromulent description but has been so completely sullied by association with dodgy dealers charging what they can get for it that it has, over the years, been replaced with all sorts of other descriptions. Secondhand car dealers all changed to used car dealers late 60s/early 70s in an attempt to dissaccosiate themselves from their own richly deseved and poisonous reputation. I was a little amused by this, because in my mind 'used' is a far more derogatory term creating a far more negative impression than 'secondhand'. At around the same time the sort of establishment that had previously, with disarming honesty, described itself as a junk shop became an antiques emporium, still purveyors of junk though, and from the 80s terms like 'bric-a-brac' graduated to them from the world of jumble or boot sales. 'Pre-owned' and 'pre-loved' appeared when the middle classes discovered shabby chic in the 90s. I prefer the straightforwardness of 'secondhand', 'used' if you must, but if you start talking about 'pre-loved naive folk art, great for your collection, retro, classic, charming (ugh!), lovingly restored, kit-buit RTR, L@@K!' or any similar carp, I reserve the right to dismiss you as a mendacious chiseller, and refrain from dealing with you. Then we had the internet, and all bets were off as eBay brought out the inner shyster in all of us, buyers and sellers. eBay promises, but never delivers, incredible bagains to buyers and incredible returns to seller, but as it is a fundamentally public forum, the market operates freely within it as everyone can see what things are going for by checking searches out as BIN. The promise is very largely complete nonsense, everything ultimately has a price determined by the iron and immutable Laws Of Supply And Demand, pitiless and eternal, codifed in the Ferengi 'Rules of Acquistion', red in toof an' clore. Caveat Emptor. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6990WitherslackHall Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Hroth said: Its like old cars Pre-owned: Well cared for, service log book up to date and copious service history file too. Secondhand: As seen, you're lucky it got a current MOT. Thats how I see it! Although old cars (like Ford Anglias) don't need MOTs Edited March 5, 2023 by 6990WitherslackHall 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) 42 minutes ago, 6990WitherslackHall said: Although old cars (like Ford Anglias) don't need MOTs They're not "old" cars, they're Classics! What's the current cut off year? It used to be something like 1971, has it been moved up? (And service history is even more important...) Edited March 5, 2023 by Hroth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 1 hour ago, The Johnster said: Secondhand, meaning something that you buy that isn't new, is a perfectly cromulent description but has been so completely sullied by association with dodgy dealers charging what they can get for it that it has, over the years, been replaced with all sorts of other descriptions. Surely anybody selling anything charges what the market will bear? Does that make a new car showroom a dodgy car dealer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 59 minutes ago, 6990WitherslackHall said: Although old cars (like Ford Anglias) don't need MOTs They need pension books - to pay for all the maintenance ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 5, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5, 2023 5 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said: Surely anybody selling anything charges what the market will bear? Does that make a new car showroom a dodgy car dealer? They should if they are honest dealers, but in the case of secondhand car dealers back in the 60s and 70s, and the case of some of our more entertaining eBay characters, they try to sell at what they think they can convince us to part with rather than referencing the market, what they have decided they want for the item irrespective of it's market value. New car showrooms are not dodgy dealers by and large, and I never said they were, but any secondhand market must find it's own price levels without RRPs to guide it, and is immedieatly pounced upon by opportunists who are unwilling to make a living selling priced new products, spoiling it for everyone on the basis that there is 'one born every minute', which has some basis in truth! And it's mostly not illegal, though the legality of it is sometimes facilitated by some highly entertaining smoke and mirror distortions of the English language! Caveat Emptor, Rodney, mange tout! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TinTracks Posted March 5, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 5, 2023 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374546564288?hash=item5734b704c0:g:aesAAOSwjYhkBGQW&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoG9PShskzaIb0CQrlXC4uMlGGmD7GSpa0YYiMgFF9mhLNUWS76OhS9etQroAbz Bit more price research required here. Regards Rich 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said: They need pension books - to pay for all the maintenance ! Wow, the old wives tales are coming thick and fast today. I'm afraid anyone who told you that was telling you porkies. Someone I know who has just paid out around £750 to have a clutch put in a pre-owned Toyota Yaris tried making themselves feel better by saying: I bet a clutch for our 1965 Triumph is a fortune! Genuine Borg & Beck, about £80, change it yourself in the driveway in about three hours. Classic cars are surprisingly cheap and easy to maintain and when well maintained, don't pollute anything like what the vested interests would have you believe and are certainly carbon neutral by their fifth decade. If you're not driving for your work and you're prepared to get your hands dirty now and then, a classic car is still the cheapest form of motoring If you have the money and aren't interested in cars particularly, leasing is the way to go. Edited March 5, 2023 by MrWolf 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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