13. Truck moved at last

It's Christmas Eve, what else can you do but set off on a journey to Bedford in a  7.5 to truck right in the middle of the "last minute Christmas shoppers" I was up early to check that the Dartford Crossing was open again after the storm and while I was at check for road closures as there had been a few due to flooding and fallen trees.

I reconnected the batteries loaded up and left around 8am, I had tried to find a route around the Low Emission Zone cameras...only time will tell if I managed that or not...I planned to fuel up at the last Service station before the M25 which I made in good time, I filled the front tank up and jumped back in the cab,,,,could I get the truck started again..could I hell, I know about the few missing teeth on the flywheel and usually a few waggles on the gear stick frees it to a point where there are teeth,,,but not this time, I even released the brakes and let the truck roll back a bit then I lifted the clutch to try and turn the engine a wee bit to clear the broken teeth but it didn't' work, So I phoned my brother in Luton who jumped in his car to drive the 90 miles over to see if he could help and at the same time I got hold of the AA and got them to agree to come out as well..only they quoted me about two to three hours as they were very busy.

My Brother  Dave, beat the AA and between us we managed to jerk the engine to a point where the starter could engage and we were off again , after a quick call tot he AA thanking them for their help but we don't need it now.

I could see , while driving up the motorway how bad the storm had been there was water everywhere...

At a steady 60mph we got t our destination just outside Bedford around 1pm only an hour later than I expected, so the truck is now in secure storage and not bothering my neighbours anymore or the Low Emission Zone bloody Pirates and the upshot of course is it is now a lot nearer to Santa Pod raceway only about 10 miles now so that will cut down on the mileage a bit...roll on next year.

12. My luck just keeps getting worse

After 3 weeks of looking, and of being let down and mucked about I have found somewhere to park the truck up, because I live within the M25 I am subject to the low emission zone rules and unfortunately the old MAN truck does not comply.

Anyway just to be on the safe side I decided to run her up as I did about 10 days back just to check the batteries out and make sure they are charged up, there is a battery isolator switch on the truck which for some reason has seized up solid and even with liberal use of good old WD40 wont budge and has now bent. Bloody typical just when I really need it to work it doesn't, will I be glad to see the back of this year or what?????

11. Some Race Dates

I haven't updated this for a while, because there hasn't been much to say till now, first and foremost I am still looking for somewhere to park the truck up I have e-mailed a certain party at Santa Pod a couple of times regarding private parking and I have yet to get a reply so unless they have been very very busy for two weeks solid or suddenly gone on holiday I must conclude I am just not important enough for them to answer so. I have got my son out looking for somewhere for me but that will mean parking the truck up some way away from not only where I live but the the Pod and Shaky too, but beggars can't be choosers.

In the meantime I have been looking at the race calender for next year, well the Pods one at any rate and I have asked my wife to try and get the following dates off from work,

29th March, - Run What Ya Brung-Dial in Day

28th-29th June, - Summer Nationals

11th-13th July, - Dragstalgia

4th-7th Sept, - European Finals

20th-21st Sept, - National Finals

That's it so far I am hoping to get a couple more dates in there at Shaky with the Wild Bunch and just how it goes with any other free dates that I get during the year.

It's nearly time to start thinking about fire-suits, medicals,  licences etc....oh and joining the racer groups, can't wait now.