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I've intended to post this one on my 290km journey home from my mother's on Sunday night as the wife was driving; but she was talking the entire way and I couldn't compose correctly, I also didn't want my wife to get drowsy as I was quite willing to drive myself but she doesn't like sitting with me on motorway 😅 I then intended on writing it yesterday but I was too exhausted from the busy and sometimes stressful two days I had in my mother's. So without further adieu; I do like taking a Saturday off from the usual six day week of work routine to travel up to my mother with a few gifts for the house to make her life easier by eliminating methods which she has difficulty completing, My mother is 69 this year, She lives alone and has a plate for an ankle bone since 1994, had breast cancer and colon cancer, as result of scar tissue within the colon; is on a liquid diet for life now, I phone once or twice per week and visit around three or four times per year due to my busy schedule with work and financially keeping my own family, We went up to visit between Christmas and New year; She's bad on the feet as the left foot can't bend, and her right hand is now starting to stiffen up with arthritis, The foot is a long term issue but the arthritis in the hand is/was really depressing her because she can't turn on a normal tap, or pull out segments on the heating time clock, She's also afraid of dropping the kettle when making tea, The left hand doesn't have much strength as the breast cancer had an affect on her arm, She started turning the heating time clock wheel to get the heat to come on but that then changed the time; resulting in the heating coming on at random hours costing money when not required. All background story said now; I went home and had a think about how I could improve things and reduce her depression without medication; she wakes up happy but through the course of the day; becomes depressed from the little disability reminders. My dad agreed to change to kitchen taps to ones with tabs which turn 90 degree was a great help, I started saving some money as soon as I went home after Christmas and put off a bill or two until feburary which enabled me to purchase a few items to make her life easier, I began to shop around online and across the weeks of January pieced together everything with the intention of fitting in all in a single visit, I then took last Saturday off work and went up to install everything, I was wrecked yesterday because I only slept from 1am Sunday to 6am Sunday due to getting everything done in the time frame aswell as talking her through some things. She wanted her living room television on the wall after seeing ours done like that, so I agreed to do it as a late Christmas present, So I had some 75x50 PVC trunking left over from the attic, I took a chip of wall paint from her living room at Christmas and bought a matching sample pot from B&Q, ordered some 4 metre HDMI cables and a six socket power strip, I then purchased a mechanical oil level gauge which is around 3" inches in size of the gauge, no batteries or dodgy radar it's float sits on top of the oil for accuracy without maintenance https://purchase.ie/product/energy-saving/oil-tank-gauge-3 makes it easier for her to budget knowing what's in the kerosene tank. I then went to Currys and picked up a Brevelle instant hot water kettle, it has a volume control to suit cup size, just pus button and it passively heats the water when it comes through, no lifting excess weight and no hot water in the resivour only what's inside the cup, She can fill the resivour using a cup or small jug eliminating the need to lift a kettle or risk of dropping the kettle. She was delighted with that, Moving on from this; she's paying for broadband service as part of her home phone and tv package; but she doesn't know how to use a computer or anything like that she doesn't have a smart phone just a simple Nokia, As result she couldn't use a wifi socket on a smart phone to switch on a light in the living room, But there was another way; I done some research online aswell as communicating with some helpful people on here to discover I could use my smartphone to initialize an Amazon Echo Plus which she can then use completely independently of any other devices to switch on and off things using her voice, it would also be a source of online information, since she's already paying for broadband. So I dug deep and bought an Amazon Echo plus, a Hive Active Heating Control kit, a Philips hue bulb and an Amazon Wi-Fi Socket, She can add more wifi sockets later out of her own investment but I covered all items which I provided to get the ball rolling, If it all worked and understood her northern accent then it was a good investment, Alternativly if it didn't understand her accent then at least we tried and she wasn't out of pocket either way. So I started with the television mounting and got that done Saturday day, I then had my dad arrive Saturday night to fit the hive heating control which replaced the segment switch with a wireless thermostat control that operates much like a light dimmer switch; turn up or down the temperature, She can now position the control unit in a comfortable location and adjust temperature by turning a volume wheel I then went back to the living room Saturday night to put two coats of paint on the cable ducting so if now matches the wall, Sunday morning I completed the television wiring and moved on to setting up the Amazon echo plus; the device fully understand my mother's accent;🕺 it's capable of turning on/off the wifi socket which we named "sitting room light" Ive chosen genuine Amazon Wi-Fi Socket as some non genuine wifi sockets can cause problems or fire in Reality HD😂 it's also working with the heating control unit, we ask it to set temperature or boost heating for 5 minutes 10 minutes 30 minutes etc. The Philips hue bulb in in the ceiling of the bedroom, She just says "Alexa turn on/off bedroom light" if says OK and does it. I've also added an app to the echo which now knows which colour of wheelie bin is going out next Monday, it will remind her the evening before to put out the blue bin or green bin etc. 😀 It even plays her favourite local radio stations which she had difficulty receiving signal on in the bedroom, since it's now coming through the internet signal isint a problem anymore. I've since put an order in for two Amazon Echo dots which are a smaller scale of the echo plus without the smart hub, they will go in the bedroom and living room, giving her full control everywhere aswell as her favourite local radio stations without signal issues. To finish everything off then I also provided a book and a highlighter pen to help her get the most from the device because she doesn't know how to use a computer or YouTube for information but she can read books. She's now a totally different person, She phoned me today to say how happy she was with it and that it even plays ocean sound effects, shes amazed it was able to tell her the weather in the local area ☺ and the book says I can listen to pod casts from the radio. Overall I'm delighted I was able to take time out of my own busy working life to spend time with family and see there life improve by removing the daily reminders of things they can't do and replace them with something wonderful. Can't put a price on that And thanks for reading, thought I'd share with others in detail as were all getting older; these ideas may help someone you know too.

Thanks for your response guys! The coolant looks nice and clean like when I last changed in two years ago. Judging from your experiences there is no point changing it lol

I'm not sure what's happened in this thread over the last few days. Everything has gone wild 🤪🤣. **Makes a note to check if this is the 'I don't like' thread or the 'horny food' thread**

I made a guide on how to install and activate cruise control and this guide is also helpful for some other activation's/deactivation's, have a look (https://bit.ly/2HOtm3s)

I particularly liked seeing that Professor Simon Kay, the plastic surgeon who carried out the UK's first double hand transplant, and performed several more since, along with other incredible work, was awarded the OBE in the New Years Honours. This is of personal interest as some years ago I was facing the permanent loss of use of my left arm and hand due to the nerves being severed close to the spinal cord in an accident. Thanks to amazing work by Prof.Kay and his team my arm was saved and I have been able to lead a relatively normal life, so I and many others owe him a huge debt and I am delighted to see him honoured.

Modern coolants have much more corrosion inhibiting properties. In most cases where I’ve replaced radiators it’s been because the corrosion from the outside has eaten through them. Lost count of how many Vauxhall radiators I’ve done now lol. Coolant is one of those things I rarely find people asking to be replaced.

It’s still pink

The newer MK3/MK3.5 mist washer jets are no solution for the washer jets leaking onto the bonnet after using them. Leaking of washer fluid onto the bonnet however can easily be solved by installing some cheap plastic (spring loaded) check valves between the washers jets and the hoses. The resistance of the (spring loaded) check valves prevents the washer fluid from leaking onto the bonnet. Ford used plastic check valves between the washer jets and the hoses many Years ago. For example on the Taunus and Capri. On both my Focus MK2 and MK3 I installed the original Ford check valves which stopped the washer fluid from leaking onto the bonnet almost completely. When using the MK3/MK3.5 mist washer jets onto the Focus MK2/MK2.5 you will notice that the MK2/MK2.5 washer pump is actually not powerful enough for the mist washer jets. On the MK2/MK2.5 the mist washer jets do not spray as far/high like they do on the MK3/MK3.5. To have full benefit of the mist washer jets you also have to change the pump for a more powerful version.

Nice easy date then...there's usually a cruise down to the local retail park every Saturday evening round here...always full of Fiesta's as well, I can see why you went for the sporty ST Line X now! Oh wait...not that type of cruise...

I was in bed thismorning watching series 3 episode 4 of the Grand Tour which became available thismorning, Site feminine this part but it's true; i was eating some chocolates and drinking a cup of tea at the first 5 minutes of thd episode; when Clarkson had s funny incident with a water hose; which caused me to choke on my ninth chocolate so much that I then vomited on the duvet which then looked as though I pooped the bed. Damn you Clarkson 🙍‍♂️

Had some muppet in one of those Corsa limited editions (you know the ones, with the go-faster stripes but without the go-faster engine) driving about an inch off my diffuser in traffic this morning. Perhaps he thought he needed to prove his stripes made up for the 100 bhp he's missing? Either way, not the cleverest idea in freezing conditions 🙄 If it's snowy in the morning I might work from home just to avoid all the idiots on the road...

Hey folks, I have some trade info that can fill in the blanks here. Im a mechanic working in the trade for over a decade now. We are currently sorting this exact issue on a fiesta at work. Not the first one we've done. the issue with these cars is they have a slightly unusual design in that they have a timing belt which is not situated outside of the engine under a plastic cover but instead this timing belt is located inside the engine (where the oil is). It's a special belt designed to work in/with the engine oil. Now the oil is a specific type designed to work with the belt. People putting the wrong type of engine oil in the car or cheap oil or not changing the oil regularly enough causes the timing belt to degrade and break down. This is what you are all finding inside the filter mesh on the intake of your oil pumps. Unfortunately just changing the oil pump after it's become blocked is not sufficient enough a repair to resolve the issue. The fully resolve the issue you need to do the following; 1) flush out the engine oil system. 2) remove sump, replace oil pump and oil pump drive belt. 3) remove timing side of engine and replace timing belt 4) re assemble engine with new oil and filter. Be sure you get the correct real stuff. I wouldn't keep the old pump as you can't be sure there isn't debris inside. Do not open the old pump as the variable vanes will fall out and their location, direction and orientation must be correct to function properly. Re assembling it is like doing a 30 square a side rubix cube, just buy the new pump and keep your hair colour longer 👍🏼 Cheers, Rossco

After cleaning the interior during the week, I spent 2 hours washing the ST this afternoon: snow foam; fall-out remover on the wheels; citrus degreaser on the bumpers, diffuser and side skirts; shampoo then aqua wax on the bodywork, and finally sealant on the wheels. 😎 Time to get it filthy on the commute again now Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Come on now! There's nothing desirable about a vauxhall

I’m on 13 now, so says who in all seriousness, do as I say not as I do (or as Ian says) and stick to the Manufacturer’s guidelines. My wifes car gets its coolant changed every 4 years when I do the timing belt. I chuck a new pump on too so system gets drained. I done my van in the summer, that’ll probably be scrapped before it needs changing again lol.

A few Forums do a over 18 thread (or Adult stuff ) where to get into that thread you have to have a password from the Staff/Admin to verify your age etc. 18+ food thread with all the fish fingers and porridge,nothing like a good breakfast to start the day.

I seem to remember Al Murray making a very convincing case that the existence of bacon proves that there is a god?😀

I wouldn't mind seeing breakfast, just as long as its filling and tastes good that's all that matters 😂

No, cards/chocolates/flowers don't cut it with the Mrs after all these years - I have to keep taking her on cruises instead😡

I don't think I could have wished for better parents, mine were well known locally for just being nice people who would help anyone. I was very moved at my Dad's funeral, when his comrades from the local Normandy Veterans Association, all well past 80 by then, paraded as his coffin went past as a mark of respect.

I just wanted people with only keyless start to realise they are still in some part vulnerable to these type of thefts. It's not as easy/silent because they can't unlock the car with a booster/relay, but even if they triggered the alarm smashing a window, getting their relay device in to the car will quickly shut it up and they can be off.

Yeah mine drives 100% but the tweets get annoying especially on cold mornings untill you use it a little or if you stop at traffic lights ect it's annoying, That clutch looks good but it doesn't have the release bearing/slave cylinder with it, I think when changing clutch your better doing all 3, clutch, pressure plate and the release bearing/slave cylinder. I'm still on the look out.

***** Nora stef I wouldnt dare lol. Knowing me that would go t1ts up. When it comes to things I have like a ocd so I make sure they get done regular. Same as brake fluid once every 2 years. Fuel filter once a year etc...

I do like raising a glass tonight to toast a f a r t!!! 🍻 😊 My uncle went through an ileostomy reversal yesterday and apparently one of the signs that the procedure was successful is the expulsion of gas through the appropriate orifice! Said expulsions are apparently happening so all is looking good for him. He got the ileostomy last May so he's been through a fair bit this last year. Cheers.

Got an Echo Dot for xmas, didn't think too much about it to start with but now I've embraced the smart home concept. Smart bulbs and thermostat control on order and speakers connected. All good fun. Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)