15. We move forward

Had a busy day today I managed to get hold of the guy that runs the Caravan storage where the truck is parked up as I need to get into it tomorrow to do a stock check and to let my son have a quick look round and see if he can get me some bits and bobs on the cheap...through his discount scheme at work that is...

This is where the truck is parked up

I then spent some time on the phone to Ian Turberville going through a few bits and pieces re: what I still need etc and I found out I don't need to have a licence to do a run what you brung even which is good news for me at the moment.

Ian's homepage

And I also found out that Dragstalgia is also a glorified run what you brung event so with a bit of luck and a following wind I might try and enter that too as this is a brilliant meeting I will attend even if I am not racing.

I have also been in touch with Ed  at DS Racewear to sort out my fire suit and gear so all in all not a bad today, I have got to getup early tomorrow as I am meeting my son at a petrol station on the A6 before going on to sort the car out....really looking forward now to driving the car in anger.

14. Time to sort a few things out

It's been a few weeks now since I last wrote anything on here not since moving the truck to Bedford so I think an up-date is well over due, First of all I have a confession to make, I embarked on this journey with all the best intentions in the word with  regards to getting fit losing some weight etc but those that know me are more than aware that I have had my hands full with some serious personal and family issues over the last couple of months, I wont go into details but life has been nothing short of hell recently but! things are now on the up so time to get stuck back in.

This weekend, Saturday in fact my son Steve, is going to meet me in Bedford we are then going over to the truck to take stock of what we have and what we still need, I think a phone call to the ever helpful Turbo will be in order tomorrow.

I then have to sort out a few things like a fire suit and joining the various racer clubs and then enter the car for the RWYB on the 29th March where, with  bit of luck I will fulfil my greatest dream of traversing the Santa Pod  quarter mile.

I have been trying to sort out a medical problem that could/might stop me from obtaining a licence in which case I will continue with the RWYB's but if that remains the case then I will seriously consider putting my son or my brother in the car for competition, we will wait and see on that one, the diet and the impending gym work may sort a few things out for me.

Which ever way this goes here's hoping for a great drag racing season and a safe one for all teams involved... "Lets get ready to rumble".

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.

10. Now it's Boris causing problems!!!

I don't know it looks like the big man upstairs just does,'t want me to go racing, got a message today from Turbo to say he has had a letter from the nice Nazi's at Transport For London to inform him of the penalty's etc for driving a vehicle within the Low emission zone of London, which is everywhere inside the M25 in a vehicle that does not conform to the required standards. So DVLC or whatever they call themselves these days haven't updated their systems yet so I made a few phone calls to find out what the hell all this is about and as far as I can see it's just another stealth tax another way of getting money out of people that can ill-afford it.

I have choices...I can  convert my vehicle to run on gas which means converting the engine to spark ignition...yeah right!!!

I can replace the vehicle..again yeah right!!

I can use one of their registered suppliers and fitters and get a new particulate filter fitted to the vehicle...

Again I made a few phone calls I was directed to the list of registered suppliers and fitters there are 12.....3 are not in this Country 3 are right up north and the first one I tried that wasn't too far away has stopped doing them...this is going to be fun!. I managed to get hold of a company in Milton Keynes who informed that supply and fit would cost anywhere between £3500 and £4000 we are talking about £150 worth of materials here and two hours to fit...god lets just rip everyone off again...

So none of the above so I am now trying to find somewhere else to park it up that is not inside the M25 bloody rip off zone grrrr!!!!

9. Young Blood is now home

Its been another short while since I last blogged anything on here, it always amazes me how awry plans can go because life just keep getting in the way. Right the good news having spent a day or two trying to get my son and Bother to agree on a date that they both could be free on I gave up...so last Saturday I got on a train to Nottingham. now there is something I haven't done in a while, and I have to admit it wasn't too unpleasant a journey.

Ian picked me up from  the station and took me back to his place where after a cuppa and a very welcome pizza I set sail for home, it took a bit longer to get home then it did to get to Nottingham but thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad at all.

As you can see Emily has taken over already but I am afraid she is going to have to wait a couple of years first as myself and my brother have booked the seat for a couple of years at least, I will have to look at hiring the Santa Pod junior dragster for Emily and see how it goes from there.

In the meantime I have another small dilemma,, if I sell on of my bikes and it's trailer then I will have enough room to get the dragster in the garage, but I will still have to find somewhere to park the truck up.........

Even though it is all legal I think my next door neighbour ..Julie..would love to park her car outside her house and stop having the light blocked from her window.......problems, problems always problems LOL