What's made you smile today?

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What's made you smile today?

Trump still doesn't seem to understand that tariffs are paid by the recipient, not the supplier, so whilst the higher prices may discourage buyers, it is his own citizens that are paying that price. He seems to be wanting everythign to be produced in the US, without asking first what was possible.
Do we export much to the US? I doubt many of our UK produced cars go there, apart from Jaguar (not currently producing anyway) and Land Rover, which are mostly bought new by the richer people anyway, so they probably won't care. Spare parts may be an issue.
His declared policy was to dismantle the economy, so he is doing exactly that. It maybe just a matter of time before things reach a level where he is bumped of by some wealthy individuals who lose a bit too much money. The economy will inevitably go into recession. The last time tarrifs were used anywhere near the current level was 1930 and we all know the result was. Its vital that we boost trade locally buying everything possible from the places that are hardest hit by his actions and reduce our dealings and dependency on the US to an absolute minimum, to minimise damge here and in those places. We dont want to respond with tariffs its up to us individually to stop buying from the US and let nature take its course. I have already made sure several recent purchases have been from elsehwere. My new 18mm chinese ratchet combination spanner would have been a US Pro one. I made sure my SDS drill was a European Chinese job. Im going to have to repalce my battery drillI too and it will not be another US made one .
I know my son and his wife are looking to live somewhere else until Trump is gone, and I dont suppose they will be the only ones. The land of opportunity doesnt look very good now.

The only person rubbing their hands in respect of this astounding behaviur is of course his best friend Putin who seems to have his total support for anything he wants to do, and of course is North Korean buddy. Hes making the world a very very dangerous place. Lets hope he dies quickly, of preferably natural causes. Im waiting for him to reintroduce slavery and to start locking up his detractors.

I wont be setting foot in the USA until hes gone. No spending my money over there any more. I tend to stick to what I know, so once I change I dont often go back. Our once greatest ally seems to have turned into a country with which we have little in common and rapidly no reason to trust. Thats some achievement in 15 weeks. Trump make liz Truss look intelligent.

tate visit. No way. No expenditure on him thanks. We dont want criminals like him here and I hope he is made most unwelcome.
 
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His declared policy was to dismantle the economy,so he is doing exactly that. It maybe just a matter of time before things reach a level where he is bumped of by some wealthy individuals who lose a bit too much money. The economy will inevitably go into recession. The last time tarrifs were used anywhere near the current level was 1930 and we all know the result was. Its vital that we boost trade locally buying everything possible from the places that are hardest hit by his actions and reduce our dealings and dependency on the US to an absolute minimum, to minimise damge here and in those places. We dont want to respond with tariffs its up to us individually to stop buying from the US and let nature take its course. I have already made sure several recent purchases have been from elsehwere. My new 18mm chinese ratchet combination spanner would have been a US Pro one. I made sure my SDS drill was a European Chinese job. Im going to have to repalce my battery drillI too and it will not be another US made one .
I know my son and his wife are looking to live somewhere else until Trump is gone, and I dont suppose they will be the only ones. The land of opportunity doesnt look very good now.

The only person rubbing their hands in respect of this astounding behaviur is of course his best friend Putin who seems to have his total support for anything he wants to do, and of course is North Korean buddy. Hes making the world a very very dangerous place. Lets hope he dies quickly, of preferably natural causes. Im waiting for him to reintroduce slavery and to start locking up his detractors.

I wont be setting foot in the USA until hes gone. No spending my money over there any more. I tend to stick to what I know, so once I change I dont often go back. Our once greatest ally seems to have turned into a country with which we have little in common and rapidly no reason to trust. Thats some achievement in 15 weeks. Trump make liz Truss look intelligent.

State visit. No way. No expenditure on him thanks. We dont want criminals like hime here and I hope he is made most unwelcome.
I get to see it up close and personal. I wake up each morning and sit with a cuppa and my Chromebook hoping I see his obit in The Guardian.

Yes, CIA, FBI, NSA, and ICE, I said the quiet part out loud.
 
...discussing a 2007 Panda that has mysteriously dribbled some oil onto the owner's driveway.
"Oh yeah, the last mechanic said the sump was getting a bit rusty when he checked the oil"
"Checked the oil? Don't you mean changed the oil?"
"No, he said it looked fine, so I left it. The invoice is in the book" (produces service book with about 8 pieces of paper sticking out of it)
"Ah, that must be this one", finding an invoice for a service from 2022.
"That's it"
Check the mileage on the car, about 9000 since the service.
"OK, oil and filter change then"
"Does it really need them?"
"I believe it does"
Car on ramp, drain under sump, gentle touch gives a feeling like prodding jelly and a sense of impending doom. But no leak.
Decide to vacuum out as much oil as possible before touching it again...
(After removing oil)
Gentle press on front of sump causes a dark line to appear. Thinks "don't do that again, dummy"
Gentle twist on sump plug causes a crunching noise.
Good job I've got a spare sump on the shelf.
Attempt to remove oil filter. Rusty hole appears in it and really black engine oil gets dribbled all over my shirt. Leaks now, but only since touching it.
Nothing to smile about yet.
However, sump came off with no problems.
New sump went on with no problems.
Disintegrating oil filter came loose on second attempt.
And the smile...
After failing to find a leak that wasn't caused by myself and the overdue oil change, I find out that a "home visitor" social worker has been parking in the same spot, and the leak is from her 3 year old Citroen.
Still, that sump wouldn't have gone much further. Neither would the oil filter!
 

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...discussing a 2007 Panda that has mysteriously dribbled some oil onto the owner's driveway.
"Oh yeah, the last mechanic said the sump was getting a bit rusty when he checked the oil"
"Checked the oil? Don't you mean changed the oil?"
"No, he said it looked fine, so I left it. The invoice is in the book" (produces service book with about 8 pieces of paper sticking out of it)
"Ah, that must be this one", finding an invoice for a service from 2022.
"That's it"
Check the mileage on the car, about 9000 since the service.
"OK, oil and filter change then"
"Does it really need them?"
"I believe it does"
Car on ramp, drain under sump, gentle touch gives a feeling like prodding jelly and a sense of impending doom. But no leak.
Decide to vacuum out as much oil as possible before touching it again...
(After removing oil)
Gentle press on front of sump causes a dark line to appear. Thinks "don't do that again, dummy"
Gentle twist on sump plug causes a crunching noise.
Good job I've got a spare sump on the shelf.
Attempt to remove oil filter. Rusty hole appears in it and really black engine oil gets dribbled all over my shirt. Leaks now, but only since touching it.
Nothing to smile about yet.
However, sump came off with no problems.
New sump went on with no problems.
Disintegrating oil filter came loose on second attempt.
And the smile...
After failing to find a leak that wasn't caused by myself and the overdue oil change, I find out that a "home visitor" social worker has been parking in the same spot, and the leak is from her 3 year old Citroen.
Still, that sump wouldn't have gone much further. Neither would the oil filter!
So Main Dealer serviced then?;)
 
Boris Johnson getting pecked by an Ostrich.

Not that it's very on brand for him...but you can bet he drove past multiple signs in the Safari park saying "Keep windows closed" but being him...ignored them.

 
I get to see it up close and personal. I wake up each morning and sit with a cuppa and my Chromebook hoping I see his obit in The Guardian.

Yes, CIA, FBI, NSA, and ICE, I said the quiet part out loud.
I really feel for your daughters and their jobs. We had Mrs Thatcher years back who decided to cut public services, but there was a degree of sense in her actions at the time. If he clears off in 3.75 years and someone normal gets things back under control it cant be too soon for us all. The only slight upside is my son may possibly come back this side of the pond for a while which would be so nice for us. His life is in the US though so its a big disruption he could do without.
 
I really feel for your daughters and their jobs. We had Mrs Thatcher years back who decided to cut public services, but there was a degree of sense in her actions at the time. If he clears off in 3.75 years and someone normal gets things back under control it cant be too soon for us all. The only slight upside is my son may possibly come back this side of the pond for a while which would be so nice for us. His life is in the US though so its a big disruption he could do without.
Thanks. I do think they will be fine, especially the younger one as she was headhunted for her job. The oldest can go back to scaring judges and lawyers. I'm starting to feel that the Orange Shitgoblin may be the first ever US Prez to be removed from office. Wall Street is calling for his head and I'm pretty sure the FTSE, Nikkei, and the other Asian markets are doing the same. A number of the Magats that voted for him are upset because the policies that they wanted enacted that were supposed to hurt lefties like me are hurting them more. Karma's a bitch.


Myself, I've always considered leaving and going elsewhere because I've traveled around the world. Mrs.Cheest won't move because of family. I hope all works well for your son.
 
Thanks. I do think they will be fine, especially the younger one as she was headhunted for her job. The oldest can go back to scaring judges and lawyers. I'm starting to feel that the Orange Shitgoblin may be the first ever US Prez to be removed from office. Wall Street is calling for his head and I'm pretty sure the FTSE, Nikkei, and the other Asian markets are doing the same. A number of the Magats that voted for him are upset because the policies that they wanted enacted that were supposed to hurt lefties like me are hurting them more. Karma's a bitch.


Myself, I've always considered leaving and going elsewhere because I've traveled around the world. Mrs.Cheest won't move because of family. I hope all works well for your son.
Thanks, for you and yours too. Hopefully we will be arund for Trumps funeral and will be able to go to my DILs world celebration month!!
 
Noop passed his MOT no advisories. HC. count at 8 is good emissions were lower than last year. It appears my service this year may have been more effective than the Dealers last effort. I didnt get a brake printout but we are good till May 2026. He has his summe sandals on. It notable how much quieter the summer rubber is.
 
Just changed the glow plugs on my Panda Multijet. Has been smoky when starting, and flashing glow plug light on dash for a while.
All 4 came out with no problems.
All 4 went in with no problems.
Started instantly with no smoke.
No flashing light.
Drives much smoother when warming up (which is quite a distance with these little engines)
Just realised that I've had this set of glow plugs on the shelf for 4 years+.
Never did get round to fitting them to the intended car. Which is still running fine - guess it didn't need them after all.
 
Just changed the glow plugs on my Panda Multijet. Has been smoky when starting, and flashing glow plug light on dash for a while.
All 4 came out with no problems.
All 4 went in with no problems.
Started instantly with no smoke.
No flashing light.
Drives much smoother when warming up (which is quite a distance with these little engines)
Just realised that I've had this set of glow plugs on the shelf for 4 years+.
Never did get round to fitting them to the intended car. Which is still running fine - guess it didn't need them after all.
See dear, it did come in in the end.
Im trying to restrain my self from increasing my parts stock for fear of just wasting money on things that never get used, however. I made a tidy profit on my Renault 5 timing chanin and tensioner as they are no longer available and now quite rare. The buyer got a bargain too, New old stock only 50myears on the shelf. LOL I have a neighbour who will benefit from my pollen filter for the 169. It should go in his daughters 500. I was looking at the front exhaust brackets on auto doc yesterday. I paid £7 each and bought 3. I have 1 left and it seems they are about £20 now! That was only 2 or three years back.
 
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I've recently been addressing the oil patch on my driveway, it wasn't actually caused by me lol.

I put washing up liquid on it, put some water down and swept it. It can be a very long term process getting rid of oil patches.
Washing up liquid is not really intended for mineral oils.
Cat litter, the clay granules type, sprinkled over the stain, adn walked over, will gently remove the oil. Downside is, you'll grind it to dust, and trample it indoors.
 
Blow torch, obviously doesn’t work if the drive is tarmac but I’ve seen people essentially burn the stain out of concrete.

Just be careful as if you get it too hot it can splinter the surface.

Another alternative is something like diesel to dissolve the stain as a solvent. Gunk is largely kerosene based and will do a similar job, but again, don’t use it on a tarmac drive or you’ll dissolve the drive.
 
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