Wing mirrors on cars

[James Wilkinson Sword]

And you're going to the wrong garages. In fact my neighbour's mechanic actually disconnected the bulb for him!

[James Wilkinson Sword]

If you don't want to change garage, wire the ABS bulb to the oil bulb, then it'll come on and go out as expected.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

What amuses me are buses that say "Greener Travel" on the back and belch out smoke. Either they don't get MOTs, or they aren't regular enough for the miles they do.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Or you can use cooking oil.

[Bob Eager]

Yes. Boat is OK I think.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

It's not like you're doing anything really naughty, you're just preventing the government from stealing taxes from you for driving your own vehicle.

[NY]

I did know at the time about declaring and paying, but I'd forgotten about it since then. Thanks for reminding me.

It would only have applied to a fairly small minority of drivers: those who have access to red diesel in the first place, so who work on a farm or know someone who does who can sell it to them.

I remember I was having to travel about 80 miles a day to/from work, as I'd started a new job and hadn't yet moved to my new house which was closer to my new job, and I was starting to get concerned about how I'd get to work if I couldn't find somewhere that still had fuel.

I was lucky in that I had about a 10-minute walk to my local station, and then two trains would get me to within a mile or so of work, with a bus to work if it was raining. It never came to it, but I remember having one anxious journey home, trying to decide whether it was better to go straight home on the motorway, or to take a longer, more stop-start journey on A roads where there might be garages that still had fuel.

It was interesting on the M4 how many cars were going a lot more slowly than normal to conserve fuel. I tried to keep down to 50 on my way home each day; going to work, I was in more of a hurry to be there on time and could never wake up early enough to allow for the extra 50-versus-70 time.

[damduck-egg]

On Thu, 25 Jan 2018 23:44:03 -0000, "NY" wrote:

As now a few garages in country areas had Red or in UK parlance Gas Oil tanks and pumps so that was another source till they ran dry.

The firm I worked for had some diesel powered Fork lift trucks and a Gas Oil tank on site, they also had a large DERV tank for the lorry fleet. Normally we ran our diesel cars on forecourt bought fuel but were allowed to use that a couple of times till it got low. The transport manager was happy to put red in some older lorries but wasn't that happy about any of the company cars using it. It was around then some colleagues and myself remembered at the end of the yard was an older truck that been out of use for a while , we almost drained the tank and got enough (white) to fill our cars but were surprised that it had contained so much. Thought no more about till I returned to the yard a couple of days later and one of the managers who knew me too well asked " You seem to have found some diesel from somewhere to keep you going , by the way the transport manager is throwing a wobbler best get out on the road again." Unknown to us within an hour of draining the tank a dealer took it out on trade plates having been assured the empty reading on the gauge was a probably a fault caused by the couple of months lay up as the workshop had put enough diesel in it for the dealer to reach his yard 150 miles away. He got 1 mile and stopped right on a busy light controlled roundabout that was the main access route for a number of industrial estates to reach a Motorway interchange and caused havoc . apparently he stopped for a red light at the line and stayed there with a Horn Orchestra from a succesion of other drivers thinking he had not noticed the light change to green till the tow truck reached him.

G.Harman

[James Wilkinson Sword]

My car once broke down on a roundabout. I was most amused at the number of people hooting at me, which I gave the middle finger to. Eventually somebody helped push my car off the roundabout until the recovery services arrived.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Nothing but nothing would make me drive slowly.

[damduck-egg]

For a few years now it depends on what the boat is doing, Commercial activity is allowed to use Red but pleasure boating is supposed to use the higher duty as road vehicles for propulsion. This has caused problems in many craft especially canal boats which were built with one tank and an engine and the fuel may be used for heating lighting etc when the boat is stationary either by appliances or electric generated by running the engine just for that . Boat owners are supposed to declare how much they will use for propulsion and pay duty on that amount.

G.Harman

[rbowman]

In the '70s the US had a 55 mph national speed limit to conserve fuel. Unfortunately when it went into effect I was driving an Audi that was never meant to do 55 except as a brief interval on the way to a reasonable cruising speed.

Thankfully that foolishness passed. The next large, well 33,000 people, city from here is 110 miles. It's bad enough at 80.

[rbowman]

Is 'forecourt' common British usage? Other than trolling Sword I can usually translate but that one threw me. We might say 'pump island' if it was necessary to differentiate that are a for some reason but typically it would just be 'gas station' or just 'station' if it was obvious you were talking about fuel. Forecourt sounds like something to do with tennis or palaces.

[rbowman]

You can always tell the biodiesel vehicles -- they smell like a taco stand on a bad day.

[rbowman]

That sounds like something only a taxman could love. It would be really wonderful on a sail boat with a diesel auxiliary where you would have to log hours under sail versus motor sailing.

[rbowman]

[damduck-egg]

it is a bit of kludge. The UK only brought it in reluctantly in 2008 after a few years of fighting whatever bit of the EU that was enforcing it in a harmonization exercise with other states who had never had separate or vastly different rates for marine fuel.

It is overbearing actions like that are remembered and partly responsible for the way the vote to leave the EU went the way it did and I say that as one who would rather we stayed in main reason being and I don't wish to be too rude but although individually USAsians tend to be nice people as a Nation the USA is a bully but size matters and the collective EU is large enough to push back where an individual UK is not. And the so called special relationship really means diddly squat and is an arse licking exercise by the UK on the whole. Personally I think we should get along with the Ruskies a bit more, the USA no longer has the excuse that they are Red Commies so whats the problem.

But enough of that , the subject of the EU has been done to death in here.

G.Harman

[The Natural Philosopher]

forecourt is a paved area in front of a premises.

It's often used to denote (part of) a garage or petrol station

Ther are no gas stations in the UK

Cars run on petrol or diesel

[Jimbo]

or gas ....

[Huge]

Indeed, but you still buy it at a petrol station. (The US "filling station" makes more sense, but there you go.)