What made you happy today?

[Bibs]

You left some VWLs on the plane!

[Sparky]

Darned TLAs

And I'm going to Copenhagen tomorrow - wheeee!

[esp88]

I hear from Kim

So, I hope see you Sparky !

Y.Hotta

[Iconic Ride]

After much research at acronymgeek.com I have come to the conclusion that, considering the (ahem) line of work in question, VWL is almost certainly a reference to the Vancouver Wrestling League, and that TLA has to do with the Truck Loggers Association.

[Laura]

My sister in law has just given birth to my second nephew, Logan, and I'm very excited to go & see him tomorrow

[ramjet]

I woke up...

[sandwer]

I stayed up late to listen to the Maple Leafs/Penguins match last night and was glad I did. 4-3 to the Leafs who are now unbeaten this season. That has made me very happy

[IanQ]

Took the Esprit to work today. Instantly turns frowns into smiles!

[USAndretti42]

Had a very nice lunch at a restaurant in San Carlos and then drove down to Santa Clara to watch some of the Golden Gate Lotus Club autocross. Some nice Elans, Elises and Exiges and also some Evos, MIatas (MX5s) an M3 convertible, a couple of Mustangs and S2000s. The only cars to open their bonnets while we were there were the BMW, an Evo and a Nissan 300ZX.

[wookiecj]

Yippee... Just back from France (Mirandol-Bourgnounac, near Albi and about 50min NE of Toulouse). Covered 1492 miles in 2&1/2 driving days in my Mantis. Can't say that the car was faultless but it got me there and back and the problems shouldn't be too difficult/expensive to sort out.

[matk]

Why didn't you stop by for a cuppa!

[Sparky]

He may do in a few weeks!

[The Veg]

It wasn't today, but it still counts.

I've made friends with a couple of local Esprit owners (who are also members here) from whom I'm learning tons of things that'll come in handy with my future Esprit, and I've introduced them to each other. We found that we all share a love of Indian cuisine, so we decided that we should all get together and eat Indian and do car-stuff...so the inaugural Cars & Curry was born, and Friday night/Saturday morning it happened. The participants were myself, Adam W ('Cookieguy' here in TLF) and his wife Kelley, and our hosts Adam B ('ABorkat') and his wife Jennifer.

Everybody brought home-made Indian...I made a Madras curry with shrimp, and there was also a yummy beef curry and a smashing chicken tikka masala. Great evening, but dark outside already so we stayed inside and had much fun with drinks and Wii, then turned in for a good nights' sleep. Saturday morning we awoke to GORGEOUS weather and after a yummy breakfast we went outside to play with the cars. Adam B owns a black '87 and Adam W owns a red '86.

How often do you see a sight like this? BTW the other two cars in the background are turbocharged as well!

We stood around comparing notes on the cars and even did some light tinkering.

This is me fettling with the the headlight mechanism in Adam W's car:

Of course it was not too long before we had to go DRIVE! The Adams tried out each others' cars and I got to drive Adam B's car for the first time.

It's rather fun watching one Esprit from another Esprit, even in the most mundane of traffic situations:

Adam W and Adam B comparing notes on the drive and the differences between their cars:

The author (very unflatteringly self-photographed) with Adam W in Adam B's car:

It was a SUPER time for all, and we'll definitely be doing it again- and with any luck, there will be a third Esprit to play with before too terribly long.

[wookiecj]

Why didn't you stop by for a cuppa!

I really wanted to but.... On my arrival at Mirandol I noticed a 'chirping' which, last year presaged a lock-up in my aircon motor. The belt which drives the accessories is a ribbed 2.48m thing and if it passes more than 120degres round a seized pulley generates enough friction to stop the starter motor turning the engine... hence your journey continues no more.....

An examination did not show anything untoward, saving the aforementioned chirping, so I decided to return home via the most direct line using only autoroutes from which I could be recovered easily. As I passed parallel to Limoges, a cuppa and a chat would have been very welcome given my apprehensive state of mind, but I may have outworn my welcome if the car had refused to restart.

On lifting the lid at home, this is what I found;-

Yes, it's a belt starting to shred itself and, unseen, an idler pulley with a lot of play in it!

Due to other things going on at the moment, I've not been able to dismount the belt and investigate further.

Fortunately, this belt has nothing to do with the cams so I wasn't in danger of mangled heads/valves if it had decided to give way.

Cuppa? Soon... hopefully.

Regards,

CJ

[wookiecj]

A Praying Mantis (I think) which stayed in the same place for long enough to allow me to get some close ups...

[molemot]

Strange creature the mantis...the female bites off the head of the male during congress...which acts as an aphrodisiac to the male, causing him to redouble his efforts; the males are also much smaller than the females, a bit like Grays Thurrock!!

[Al]

Getting home after 4 and a bit weeks away and picking up the car from dealer.

Work is $hitty these days post BP and the Macondo disaster with hassles every minute of the 4 weeks so was a stressful hitch. Glad to have nothing on but the 'Honey Do' list. I was transported everywhere with BA for a change and I looked out for you Sparky but evidently not mincing these days. IAH-LHR-EDI.

[molemot]

This cheered me up...it's an email from my cousin Tony...

Your Mum recounted to me the time when she and my Mum were out pushing us in our prams around Ashford one winters afternoon and, on returning back to Princess Road, found both our Dads sitting with their overcoats on in front of the dead fire, having let it go out and not given a thought to put more coal on but just put their coats on!! When asked why they let it go out, as the coal scuttle was at their right hand, one of them calmly said “What, have a dog and bark yourself?, light the fire for us its cold!”

She got her own back though. In about 1967/8 Dad was laying the concrete driveway at Insley crescent and mixing concrete in a hired concrete mixer wearing, and I know you won’t believe this, a pair of jeans and braces bought specially for the job!! Well, as he and I were shovelling in the cement etc. he got his spade caught in the inner vanes in the mixer drum and, as the spade revolved with the drum, the handle came slowly round..... as he was trying to get it out .... and hooked under his braces!! There was Dad being forced to jump up and down with the rotating spade handle, desperately trying to get it out from his braces (I am sure you can picture the scene), as you can imagine I was beside myself and helpless screaming with laughter, he was swearing great oaths as he danced up and down!! Mum came out to see what was up and, just for a moment, winked at me and turned the mixer to ‘fast’ before turning it off, it being electric..... she then walked back to the house laughing like a drain!.

Edited October 28, 2010 by molemot

[rogerch]

I had an unassisted shower and put my own socks and shoes on.

May not sound much, but after last weeks surgery, trust me it's bloody fantastic.

[USAndretti42]

Whose shoes and socks were you putting on?

Went to Sausilito today. Always like going there even today when the weather wasn't good.

[The Veg]

I had an unassisted shower and put my own socks and shoes on.

May not sound much, but after last weeks surgery, trust me it's bloody fantastic.

I'm with you on that Roger. Almost three months ago I crashed a motorbike and broke my right arm- and of course I am right handed! Surgery was required, and while I didn't need anybody's assistance to function, life was a REAL pain in the ass while in the casts/bandages/etc. I really detested having to bathe with a plastic bag covering my arm!

I also hated not being able to drive for a bit as I have a manual-gearbox car.

Now, two and a half months on from the surgery, my right wrist has just about regained all its function.

[Iconic Ride]

Went to Sausilito today. Always like going there even today when the weather wasn't good.

Next visit head over to Tiburon and do battle with the seagulls (my younger son calls them "flying rats") on the waterfront deck. They love frenchfries! Spent nine years in the SFO Bay Area, and my vicarious thoughts are with you, Trevor.

Enjoy!

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[Simon350S]

Today is our first wedding anniversary.

Can't believe its a whole year, its been ace.. Lisa's awesome and she makes me smile everyday. Shame I'm stuck in a scummy hotel in Essex while she's 200 miles away but I did pop back last night to say hi and open some cards.

The moment my life changed for the better

Oh, were having a fireworks party this Saturday if anyone fancies burning lots of stuff!

[Mark Blanchard]

Congrats on your first year .

What made me happy a week or two ago was the old bake bean looking at my screen.

And I heard I was on the Discovery channel last night too.

[Bibs]

There's a thread on here about it Mark, you're famous!

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/index.php/topic/37858-anybody-watch-discovery-channel-tonight-qe3/