In view of the multiple grumblings, and two comments on the log about my having not posted the picture of myself and Beth ‘dancing’ at David’s wedding, here it is.
If you’re wondering why it looks rather posed, and not really dancing-like, is because what David neglected to say is that he didn’t manage to take a picture first off, so I had to go over and turn the camera into photo mode for him, and then we posed!
To change a headlight bulb cost the grand total of £38.62 including VAT, from the official price list for servicing that Ford give them. The girl in the service department said that both the new Mondeo and the new Fiesta have similar problems.
Incidentally, my worry over cheap Ford plastics that led me not to want to force the grille seems well founded, as the front grille is noticeably not as secure as it once was. It seems to me that in an ideal world, the better way to do it would be to remove the battery and the tray and not the headlight (as that would probably have been how it was put together), however by doing that you run into all sorts of problems with the security systems and the Engine Management System, both of which would be affected by disconnecting the battery.
Why is it that Ford can’t make a car now that has a bulb that the owner can change?!?
Anyway, after about an hour sitting around at Reg Vardy having the bulb done, I went down to Basingstoke to test drive a new Skoda Octavia, an all together more pleasurable experience. I test drove both their 1.9TD, and the 140bhp 6-speed 2.0TD. I have to say that the 2.0TD has a pretty frightening amount of power, enough that I’d probably end up wrapped around a tree at some point. The 1.9TD seems perfectly adequate for the kind of mixed driving with occasional long motorway runs that I do.
I don’t know, but it is going to cost me at least £30 on Saturday to find out!
I set off for work this morning to discover that the passenger side headlamp bulb on the Focus had blown. No problem I thought, when the drivers side had gone, I’d gone over to Halfords on my lunch break and they’d sold me a new bulb, and even fitted it in about 10 minutes.
Today, the guy at Halfords wouldn’t do it, and suggested I either do it myself, or take it to a Ford dealer, as he said it was too fiddly. (The point of the service I thought was to do a fiddly job for you).
I phoned the Ford dealer nearest to work, who was proposing to charge me £30 for the pleasure, but described how to do it over the phone (basically unscrew the bolts holding the light in place, and get the whole unit out) and suggested I should be able to do it, so tonight I thought I’d do it myself…
A lot of hassle later I still haven’t changed the bulb, mainly because I can’t get it out as the battery mounting blocks the back of the headlight cluster. I’ve tried removing the headlight to get at it that way, but it is blocked by a screw underneath somewhere that I can’t find (and the Ford dealer didn’t mention), and the front grille, that includes the locking mechanism for the bonnet. From previous experience with Ford plastics I’m loathed to force it as it will probably break. Much to my disgust it does look like I’m going to end up having to pay a Ford dealer to change the bulb for me.
Apparently the new Mondeo and Fiesta just tell you to remove the headlamp, and then say that you should have the headlight alignment checked by a dealer. Certainly when I phoned Reg Vardy to book it in for Saturday morning, the person making the booking didn’t seem surprised.
A definite Ford money making scheme methinks…
I’ve uploaded a work in progress on the holiday pictures. What is lacking at the moment are descriptions for a number of the pictures.
The pictures come from two Sony Cybershot cameras, and also a few from the camera on my mobile phone (easy to spot because of the dodgy colours). I’ve posted a few sample pictures below.
A while ago my Uncle, who produces books got involved in an upcoming book about Canada, looking at modern Canada, and how the people of the country live day to day. As Beth’s parents run a cattle ranch, he asked if they’d be happy to let a photographer come out to the ranch and take pictures of Beth’s Dad doing his day to day work.
Anyway, we didn’t hear much else, although the librarian at one of the nearby schools in Canada had apparently seen the finished book, and mentioned it because she recognised the rancher in the pictures as Stan.
One of the things I did whilst we were staying at the ranch is to try and locate a copy. In Canada it is only available as a textbook, however Amazon in the UK have a paperback version which arrived today. Beth’s Dad appears in a box-out on page 13, and there is also a shot of the river valley near the ranch during the recent drought in a section on climate change.
