It may be kismet. It may be something else. I am not sure - but when I run a post called "Of Cars and Consternation" I was thinking mainly of the ills of bad parking, and had few thoughts towards any other car issues...
And so it was, that sitting in the Barton house, with the sun shining brightly through the windows, and deceptively being warmed by the very efficient central heating , and thinking it was rather a nice day outside.. when it was really freezing and getting colder, I had little thought about the issue of cars...
Lunchtime and an apologetic phone call from the dentist says that the Dental appointment for the afternoon for my father in law cannot be filled, gives me the option to consider returning to Wales a day early.
Leave just after lunchtime, nice ham sandwich with grapes, and get back to Llanelli before it gets dark. Fills many of the ticks in boxes.... seems like a good idea....
New battery in car. New Tyres. Been an expensive week on cars - but no problem with starting and getting onto the road. Daphne of course says that it is better and quicker to go around the motorway all the way, 208 miles but only three and a half hours travelling .... but of course I decide to take the scenic route home - 178 miles and save a bit of fuel.
Reset the Sat Nav for Llanelli via Salisbury and the weather is still bright and cold, cheerful and steady....
Interestingly, just after Warminster, Daphne has a plan to get us home a little quicker and we vary from the beaten track and head off across unknown lands .. but no hurry and what could possibly go wrong???
Well, am I having just a little trouble changing gear just there ??? Nah - must be imagination....
We will take this small track off into the Somerset hinterland - what could possibly go.....??
Hmm. Doesn't want to change gear.... Double De Clutch. Always used to have to do that on some of the old cars. Bet few people know how to do that these days !!! What could possibly...??
Coming up to a junction... seems quite busy but only a side road - B3 something or other .. Up to the junction.. Oops ... Can't get out of third. Can't actually get into first. Double De clutch.. Ahah!!! Neutral !!!
nothing... No cars behind - so far so good. If in doubt - turn off engine and re-start !!!
Switch off engine - Check!! What could ...??
Umm.. At the junction. Plenty of power!! New battery - working pretty well thank you very much !! Immobiliser off - yup !! Not actually starting the car though ... No engine starting !! Plenty of nice bright lights on the dashboard!!! No actual engine though... What ...????
Okay .. RAC . Where am I ??? who knows. no Postcodes here !!!
Idiot me - the sat nave says quite clearly that I am at the junction of Apple Tree Lane and The B something or other Bradford Lane... Pretty good description if I say it myself....!!!
Sadly - will be up to 2 hours for attendance says my nice young lady on the telephone ( 0800 number - free phone "YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THIS NUMBER IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE.. Damn you Talk Mobile !!! "
Small mercies!! Lap top with me and an unwatched episode of Doctor Who Series 5 - that will kill an hour...
Kills the battery as well - but I got to see the end !!!!
Getting cold by now - very cold - I mean very cold!!!
Normally I travel with coats and blankets and all sorts of stuff. Today I am looking through my dirty washing from the three day travel pack - and adding two pairs of leggings, three pairs of socks - who cares if they are dirty - they have only been worn one day !!! and two tee shirts and a cardigan - my entire wardrobe..
The windscreen is now misting !!! Must be getting to zero out there !!!
5 o'clock. They said that it could be that long as the worst scenario.. time to Call again !!
"YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THIS NUMBER IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE.. Damn you Talk Mobile !!! "
"I have talked to the despatch people and they say it could be another hour ... but I have upgraded you as you have been in the cold for a long time " Sad to say - I do suggest that I am an elderly driver and VERY cold .. I am Cold!!! At the time this seems a little pushy - but when I find out later that they seem to have lost my call and freed the van heading for my call - and putting me at the bottom of the lust again I do not feel so bad!!!
Finally, the van arrives and a very nice RAC mechanic takes one look at the car and decides that the clutch is giving a problem .. Well - that was what I told them !!! Interestingly, he takes the key and does the one thing that I had not done - locks the car and unlocks it again and then tries to start the day - it starts !!!!!!
Silly fella turns the ignition off and then we get nothing from then on... Lots of lights, just like before - but no chance of starting anything .... "Could be anything - short circuit!! wiring .. anything !!"
Well, if I am honest I agree with him but I am not the RAC Mechanic!!!
Seems we are now going to wait for the Recovery Vehicle.....
But he takes pity on me and decides that he will persuade the head office that he needs to stay with the "elderly gentleman" who has got really cold - at least until they cannot send him to another call before he finishes his shift ...... Works for me.. I gave him a can of my diet coke that I had got on special offer at Farm Foods. I also told him about the special offers in Morrison's at the moment . He thought he may pop in on his way home !!
And that is when I find out that he was cancelled from my call and then re-instated...
Seems that when I called because I had no heard anything for 90 minutes or so at 5pm - and the nice young lady decided to up my priority - well it is possible my old call got deleted and the new call started from scratch again - priority - but I am not a single female - I am only an "elderly driver"....
But after another hour - the nice gentleman from the Recovery Firm get to me.. Wayne !!!
So we get loaded onto the wagon fairly easily. Say goodbye to our RAC man - who now can log off and get home 20 minutes early rather than his normal compulsory 1/2 hour unpaid overtime... good luck to him !!!
Five minutes into the journey he happens to mention that he is sure that I have been told that I have to pay the Toll Charges on the Severn Bridge..........................
Well... I am not quite so happy with all that has happened so far by this time... I am now warm - but have been very very cold .. Apparently my call has been lost and reinstated while I was in a very dark country lane miles from anywhere. I have not been kept up to date my regular calls as promised.. I have had to call back to RAC three times so far "AT A COST !!" for my Free Phone Number !! Not RAC problem I know - but what the heck !
"Oh .. That may be a problem !!!" says I ...
Now my RAC man has said that they often tow back with the RAC van .... That would be a £12 toll charge . My car itself and my Bothy would be £6.20 ... But hey have sent a great big lorry to carry me back.. That is £18 or £19 ... which is a lot of money !!!
"I don't have money for the Bridge... I am sure that last time I was recovered I did not pay " I have a feeling that the last one had a Severn Bridge TAG - and it was paid automatically. Can't be sure - but this now seemed to be a matter of principle!!!
But "Wayne" - my driver was not someone for which I wished to cause complications, He was driving me!!
So - Lets call RAC and check that they pay for the toll !!! 0800 FREE PHONE
"YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THIS NUMBER IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE.. Damn you Talk Mobile !!! "
Nice young lady tells me that terms and regulations say that I have to pay tolls - I say I have no money - she says I will check with my manager - says I have to pay - I says I cannot pay - says I can call tomorrow morning and complain ....
So I says " we will have to go via Gloucester then to avoid the toll charge - do you authorise this as it will cost much more than you paying the toll " She said "Yes" but I do not think that she really understood the problem !!! ...
"Okay" says I to Wayne - "we will have to go via Gloucester. " And I reset the Sat Nav.. Only another hour on the outgoing journey - extra 80 miles - I presume that they pay you by mileage..... But I did ask if she was authorising....
Bit of a problem says Wayne... Cos he is on driver hours and that will put him outside his drivers' hours and he cannot get there and back in the time specified... He is close anyway - no idea how long he has been on duty before he picked me up.. I had waited 5 hours - he may be on his first break requirement already !!!
"I can't go via Gloucester without my boss agreeing " says Wayne.. "Fair enough" says I .. "The young lady I just spoke to says it is authorised but I am not sure she realised what she was saying !!"
So as we get onto the Bath By-pass we stop and Wayne has a fag and calls his boss... Clearly there is to be a little confusion here!!!....
His boss will not authorise the detour.
I have £10 with me - enough to pay for my £6.20 bridge pass ....
I am sadly short of normal resources as shown by the fact that I am wearing 4 pairs of socks and three pairs of leggings and T shirts .....
RAC will not pay for the toll....
On this occasion - I do not jump in to find the solution - (difficult for me I accept - but this is not my problem so I will see what the solution is likely to be)
"And a green one and a green one"
I could have gone "Bring Bring" to show that the mobile phone was calling - but as my ring tone is actually the entire wolves faction singing "And a Green One " takes us into a whole different element of reality !!!
RAC Calling !!! This time - no 0800 "We will Charge you" .....
Can you pay later? Have you any means of paying ?
"Well actually the issue is more that you have chosen to deploy a £20 toll charge Vehicle rather than anything that may have been an alternative ....... I have the money for my toll charge as a car.... sadly do not have more ... To be helpful - I can offer up to the £10 I have here but otherwise I cannot afford to go over the bridge. You have deployed this vehicle as part of the recovery which I have paid for in my subscription and my membership over the last 20 years or so ... I am willing to spend another hour travelling - as it is warm here in the cab - if you feel that you cannot pay the toll... Up to you "
Within a couple of minutes the decision is made that I will pay my regular toll charge to the driver and RAC will authorise the company to pay the full charge and recompense..... Seems reasonable to me ..
So I gave Wayne a Can of Diet Coke from my store and we proceeded on our way..
11 pm and we arrive at our local garage to unload the car and await the results of any examination of the issues and problems.. While Wayne and I discussed many things as you do on a journey through darkest Wales. Shared a can of Diet Coke and life histories....
At the end of the day - I was ready to call it a day. Wayne would have to make his way back to Weston Super Mare - his home base. One more awkward customer beneath his belt !
But he got the £10 that I had in the car for the cost of the toll.. Not much of a tip but all I had to give...And another can of Diet coke .. To see him home.....
Everything happens for a reason they say !! Home and tucked into the warmth by midnight - tomorrow I would have been desperate to get back home by 2pm - that would have been a nightmare with a break-down ... No way would I have managed - with all the complications that would have caused...
I have drunk enough Diet coke for one day ...
Raising a glass of Scotch !!!
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