Week of 2nd March, 2009

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Monday, 2nd March

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Tuesday, 3rd March

Katy is full of plans these days- she has her eye on a month's trip to the Far East (Singapore and Thailand) and she's actively chasing a newer car. The new Mini (not so new, now, but still called such to distinguish it from Alex Issigonis' creation for the old British Motor Company back in the '60s) She's going as new as she can afford, which means one to two years old. I'll get her cast-off Renault - which is a switch. Normally, children get their parents' cast-off cars - but it makes sense. I'll need newer wheels at some point, and the 2000 model year Clio 1.4S is as good as any other car for my use - basically I want a box-on-four-wheels into which I can install lots of radios and electronics, and use as a commuter car, with occasional longer trips. So small and economical is the order of the day, here.

But her Philips laptop has broken it's power connector, and the battery is flat. Once she recovers pending work from it, which will entail a loan battery from a friend, I'll get it fixed - my tame repair shop in Harrow, should be able to do the trick. Meanwhile, she can use the Lenovo. But we've got to get those files off.

Other than that, I've done very little.

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Wednesday, 4th March

Back to work today, for the last 2 days of the fortnight. Next week it's nights - have I mentioned how much I hate nights?

Today was the mixture as before, everything delivered done by quitting time, and the first missing item is mid-afternoon tomorrow - and that's a dummy, placeholder, commercial. Significant missing material amounts to 3 line-feed programmes, and the live promos appertaining thereto. But there's lots of ex post facto adding of extra audio tracks to movie channel promos - 30-odd promos, each requiring 6 (3 stereo pairs) audios added. This is monumentally boring, because it's not quick, and it's also very easy to make mistakes. But there are plans afoot to automate the process - can't come too soon.

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Thursday, 5th March

And another day, just like yesterday.

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Friday, 6th March

Well, Katy has done the deed - she has bought (or at least ordered) her new car. And it's genuinely new - as in hot off the production line.

The car she was interested in (a 58-plate Mini Cooper - that's no more than 6 months old) had been sold. But the dealership came back with an offer of brand-new for an extra UKP500.

So today, after school, we went in to the dealership - Park Lane, London, W - for a test drive. Not the actual car, but one of identical spec.

Katy loved it, and sealed the deal on he spot. UKP11,750 on-the-road, with a year's tax and a full tank. The sticker price is just north of UKP14,000, and the difference will be carried on their books as a trade-in of my Skoda - at 3 times the amount I paid for it 5+ years ago. Are they desperate, or are they desperate?

Now I have to find the paperwork - not easy, that. I may have to spring for a replacement registration document - 4 pages of A4, computer produced. But the original dealer misheard my name when they registered it, and that name has't been changed ever since - I just answer to the wrong name at tax time. But it needs to be right for the tax refund when I trade in.

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Saturday, 7th March

Checking insurance today. I can get cover for the Clio from my existing insurer at UKP91 for the remaining 6 or 7 months of the insurance term, which is reasonable. That quote is pending finalising the sale and trade-in. Katy has also organised her updated insurance, again pending closig the sale.

I also got a quote for fixing Katy's laptop on insurance. Cover is available, subject to a UKP50 excess, as personal goods. Now to see if my tame repairer in Harrow can do the deed. That'll be Monday.

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Sunday, 8th March

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