Kickstart

When I spoke to the bod on the Dapol stand at Warley on Sunday they did say there were body variations being made, including multiple different types of door. All the best Katy

But not if the scheme to charge what you consume lands up doubling the amount you pay just to stay 'revenue neutral'. But unfortunately there is no way the revenue would be reduced down to the level of what is consumed as it is a very large source of general revenue. All the best Katy

But how many people have any faith in fuel duty dropping once hideously expensive to run road pricing has been introduced? Reality is that only a tiny fraction of road user taxes (VED, fuel duty, etc) are spent on the roads. All the best Katy

Or maybe that there already is a system for charging for use of the road that is far simpler, cheaper and less intrusive. Fuel duty. With VED, probably best to just scrap it. Save a fortune in the cost of the DVLA for a start. All the best Katy

Rather than the selfish delays from being stuck behind a slow accelerating vehicle with a couple of passengers stopping regularly and blocking the road. When that is inflicted on drivers it is of little surprise that they don't want to let the bus out and get stuck behind it. All the best Katy

The HGV speed limit for motorways has been 60mph for as long as I can remember, irrespective of the max 56mph speed limiters that they are required to have. All the best Katy

Something that came around in John Prescotts time to try and make private transport less pleasant. Like the limits on parking places with new build houses. All the best Katy

Over reading speedo and odometer don't always go together. Years ago we had an Alfa 155, and on that the speedo read about 35mph at a genuine 30mph (high accuracy GPS unit), but at a true 80mph it would indicate about 86mph. So not a fixed percentage over. Mind you, on a long journey on a hot day it would suddenly start reading accurately. All the best Katy

GPS units normally gives a speed reading based on the doppler effect on the GPS signals. All the best Katy

As I understand it they are doing varients, with (for example) 2 different styles of door planned. All the best Katy

Few more spare now that Ironbridge power station has closed. While it was coal burning, think it has only been biomass burning recently. All the best Katy

Please excuse the mobile phone pictures but here are a few. Left as links as a load of fairly large picture would probably drastically slow down loading this page. http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1155.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1156.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1157.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1158.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1159.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1160.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1161.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1162.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1163.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1164.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1165.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1166.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1167.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1168.jpg http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Dapol08/IMAG1169.jpg Katy

Not as impressive as that, but I owned an Aprilia AF1 Futura bike which I traded in for another bike back in 1993. Browsing Ebay a few years ago there was a similar bike for sale. Sent an email to check the registration and it was my old bike. I bought it back. Although couldn't really haggle on the price once the seller knew why I was buying it. A 15 year gap, and I am the 2nd owner than the 15th owner in its history (1st owner was the dealer I bought it from with 70km on the clocks). All the best Katy

Hi Just tried the online value checker for the Maserati 222E we have. Unfortunately they don't list it All the best Katy

Hi My parents had a very early 320 (a 4 cylinder one). With that I can see where they got their build quality reputation. Wish modern cars had such nice interiors. Seats seemed to made of cement though (although to be honest many years ago we borrowed a late 1970s BMW 7 series and the seats on that were agony). My fathers comment was that it was one of the least reliable cars he has had (and it replaced an Alfasud, and he has had a few Lotus'). All the best Katy

But that would mean buying 2 sets.... All the best Katy

Depends how many of the owners they told. Not many from the pics of 1 series BMWs with snow socks on the front wheels. All the best Katy

Hi Further to my earlier comment I should point out that we have an E46 BMW 318 (2L 4 cylinder engine). I can't say I am at all impressed with the build quality, or the driving experience. It replaced a Jaguar X Type which was far better built and more reliable (although also not a fun car to drive). Last few cars we have had have been the BMW, X Type, 2 Mazda MX5s, an Alfa 156 and a couple of Alfa 155s. I would put the BMW build quality about bottom of them. About 2nd from bottom for driving experience. Top of the list for fuel consumption though. All the best Katy

Not so sure these days. All the best Katy

From memory there was a bit of a media stink at one point when it was realised just how many supposedly 1.1 litre cars were a shade over. 1.1L K series was 1120cc and the 1.1L Fiat Fire engine (used in Puntos and the like) was 1108cc. Trouble is that from the angle you see them from behind when a few hundred yards away the black and the blue squares look much the same. All the best Katy

Hi Definition of classic by insurance company varies greatly. The bike policy I have seems to limit it to bikes over 10 years old. All the best K

Hi Thank you very much for the supportive ratings. It means a lot, more than many will understand. I have lived in fear partly of negative reactions and so far none have been bad. As to admitting model railway interests, it is something (along with wargames) that I have generally hidden. But something that these days I don't tend to worry about admitting. I fully understand that and I hope I am cutting them some slack. I have tried to make it clear to them that I appreciate it is difficult for them and that if they make mistakes then that is understandable; genuine mistakes are very different from malicious comments. Katy.

Hi I wasn't sure whether to post in this thread or not as this week has been a rather major one for me. For many years (certainly since before I was 10) I have desperately wished to be female. This is something I had never admitted to anyone until this year, and had developed quite a few character traits to avoid giving people any clue to these feelings; I would never have watched a TV show on trans people. I have quite separate logical and emotional thought patterns, and the logical ones tended to stamp down on the emotional ones. In many ways this has caused many issues over my life; it has tended to push me into regarding life as something to get over as quickly and painlessly as possible. Last year events caused some changes in my thinking, and pretty much destroyed my logical arguments, although I couldn't bring myself to admit it. Finally earlier this year I came out to my partner and family. Things have moved on since then with my partner being very supportive, some of which people might have noticed. I stopped signing myself with my name on forums and internal work emails early this year, switching to just an initial. Yesterday I finally came out to everyone, moving to be Katy full time (having changed my name 6 weeks ago). Immediate colleagues at work have been told, the rest of the company will find out next week while I am away for the week. Hence a bit of a stressful week, and a bit of a coincidence that this thread turns up this week. This is not an easy thing to do (indeed, after 40 odd years of keeping quiet it isn't easy to say either), but something I need to do to move on. I care little about the labels some people wish to attach. All the best K

Hi I always thought that cyclists shaved their legs to reduce dirt build up, which could otherwise increase infections when they crash. All the best K

From a counsellor I spoke to recently, there are connections apparent between autism spectrum disorders and trans people. How well it has been investigated is another question, as trans issues are not that well investigated or understood. All the best K