Silence

I am back! It has been nearly 2 weeks since my last post and you may be wondering why the silence?  In a nut shell - car issues, well not really issues, more administration and maintenance!

Last Saturday we inadvertently discovered we'd been driving around for the last 2 weeks with an out of date MOT certificate, and just in case you're wondering if that's bad, well yes it is because here's what MOT is all about.....

The MOT certificate confirms that at the time of testing, without dismantling it, your vehicle meets the minimum acceptable environmental and road safety standards required by law.

Whoopsy!  After realising our administrative oversight late Saturday afternoon we very luckily managed to get an appointment at a local garage for 8:30 am the next day.  All good except for one tiny problem - it failed.  I did have an inkling there was something a bit dodgy with the hand brake and yes indeedy we needed a new brake cable. Only problem was it was a bank holiday on the Monday and the earliest we could get in was Wednesday.

Anyway, it meant we were car-less for 3 days, our planned trip to Cambridge got pushed back and we watched a very naughty amount of Top Gear on the telly.  And as much as I love Top Gear (and of course Richard Hammond) I'm hardly going to blog about it.  Although having said that - that's exactly what I'm doing J

Anyway, we now have a car with a fully functioning hand-brake and one year's worth of MOT.  Cambridge here we come (well - after the recruitment agency interview that is!)

Oh - and a little word of warning - if you are planning to come to the UK and buy a car, start saving for your insurance now! Insurers over here will NOT recognise Australian driving histories and will NOT accept proof of a no claim discount unless it has been accrued in the UK.  Despite my many years of (near) impeccable driving and my 65% no claim bonus for life, I am placed in the same basket as young 18 year old whipper-snippers and had quotes for one year's insurance of up to £2200!  After a bit of shopping around we've ended up paying £846.

ps - interview went well and I have since had another one.  Will post all the gory details if I do manage to find some work!