I think I want another Ka

Fiat?

Punto?

Hmmmmmmmmmm....

Aye... *Grande* Punto though... there won't be any porridge wogged examples out there in the time I'd be keeping one, to bring the side down. ;-)

-- JackH

The new Grande Punto. Cracking car - the JTD has had great reviews.

I'll sum it up.

I cleaned the Golf out today, gave it a good once over in preparation for its MOT etc., and then took it out for a run round some of the local country lanes to make sure everything is as it should be.

And it was...

But having had the Rallye for a while now, the goalposts appear to have moved somewhat - I was glad to get back in that later on in the day, even though as you know, I'm a bit of a VW TDI afficiendo.

I won't sell the Golf... yet - I may end up having a big commute at some stage within the next few months, and it'll be a better day in day out car for that... but... I've had a few hot hatches in my time, and this 106 is the absolute bollocks. :-)

I lost my interest in cars for a while, not least after the VTEC debacle... but this one has got me well interested again. :-)

-- JackH

Don't listen to him Dervy... he'd tell you it was fantastic even if it was a complete turd. ;-)

-- JackH

In news:2OI9g.29470$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net, DervMan waffled on in a semi-interesting fashion, it went something like this;

Heh, LPG Range Rover... won't handle that well, but it has a V8 and is cheap to run.

... for Range Rover values of cheap.

Ah, employment.

I just discovered I'm now a professional photographer in addition to everything else I do, after a 2 hour PR shoot I had to dash over for.

Depending on how much work might happen from that job, I might promote myself a bit in that regard. Never even thought of it before, what with my 'unprofessional' SD10 kit.

Richard

Aye, that old chestnut... all part of the wonderful game that is 'contracting'.

I'm not concerned... I'm actually quite hopeful where I am might be looking to find something else for me anyway... but before one takes on a 3 year millstone, it's nice to know one might stand a slight chance of being able to meet the repayments.

You'll be wanting to keep the Scorpio, then...

-- JackH

I've got one, well, I've got two, but only one is LPG and doesn't run on LPG at all at the moment. So it's not cheap to fuel, but it's dead cheap to insure and bits are very cheap for it.

"Pete M" wrote in message news:SCQ9g.142608$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

The weakness of the V8 Rangey is that it doesn't hit the "small and funky and puntable on a country lane" unless you mean, an offroad country lane! ;)

It's why I like the Contract Hire route; same payments as a millstone (though IMO for better cars [1]), but new cars so reliable/warranty. When we finally get around to selling this place and buying somewhere in Yorkshire, I'm going to get a Bentley - I won't do it until I have a garage. Haven't decided what model I want/how much I'll spend, but I know I'll be happy /enough/ with a late 80s Bentley Eight in very good condition (which is a cheap Bentley indeed) - I'd ideally like a Continental T or R, or Corniche (rare, though, and too easily mistaken for a 'Roller').

Bugger that; it's MOTd now and anyone with £450 can take it away. I can get my main camera kit (SD10, flash, 4 lenses - though I can't find one of them right now, plus Pentax DL and lens, filters), tripods and a pair of Elinchrom heads, stands and collapsed softbox in the back of the RX8. I could get a better stand for the softbox with a weight on it, which might not fit. Only screwed if I need backgrounds, but they're not really an issue for that.

And frankly, if I did need backgrounds, I'd get an A-class with the option to remove the front passenger seat.

What I think will be more useful from a marketing point of view is the video kit I have, and maybe getting a Vodafone 3G datacard with unlimited bandwidth. Send images RIGHT NOW from the site, having previewed and edited them directly on the PowerBook - or prepare video work on site. For most PR work, iMovie will do everything needed, but for more sophisticated jobs I can always bring the work home.

Richard

Fabia vRS Interesting, fast, diesel, cheaper than an Audi, more soulfull than an SDi. CAI, remap, stainless, grin. Sounds like a road map to achievement to me.

Of course it. Will straighten corners wonderfully (drive through hedges if you can't see over them)

HFM???

Sounds a bit cheap to me.

I take it that's unmaintained - how many years / miles per annum?

-- JackH

Unmaintained (12.5K service, £77, 25K, £106, tyres you don't want to know. Tax is included though).

You won't find those prices now I expect; there appeared to be a glut of

Richard

Yahey - move to Yorkshire - YKIMS

An SD10 and a *istDL - I like you I do. No Nikons / Canons in sight then?

How do you get on with the DL - been promising myself a digital body since the D was launched but never got round to it (don't do much photo any more) and bought another P&S (Panasonic LX1)

Mate of mine had a powerbook with finalcut - but has dumped it for some fancy PC book with VEGAS - couldn't get a Mac with twin 7200 drives in RAID so was getting sick of the speed. Uses Mac / Finalcut back at the studio though.

I'm a Premiere person though - and I never edit on the lappy - should do though but never have the disk space.

Oh, I do. I was born in Rotherham, and grew up just over the border in Notts. before being dragged up here - Sheffield and Yorkshire in general are much more like "home" to me than Scotland ever can be, even though I have lived here for longer.

I like Scotland. I like the countryside and the architecture and the people in the main bits of the country. I like a fair bit of the Borders. However, there's a small but unpleasant percentage of the Border folk who are, frankly, the most unpleasantly racist f*****ts I have ever met, and I cannot lose my accent. I do sometimes slip into "Northern", but I'm RP, and sound daft trying to say anything Bordersish.

Sometimes, but the SD10 is mineminemine. Elsewhere were Contax compacts (i4R is now departed, U4R and SL300 need batteries), Fujica medium format rangefinders (my 645W is in need of repairs), and Minoltas on demand. Next up should be a Pentax 645D.

The Pentax kicks arse for a small, cheap DSLR - I like that it fits in my glovebox. Sensitivity is pretty good too, and it seems marginally happier with some colours than the same (allegedly) sensor in Nikon and Minolta competitors.

Pentax's own lens range (as in AF digital fits) is a bit limited, mind.

Twin drives in a RAID? What's the point. You want RAID, you want a United Digital Firestar 5-drive hotswappable box with Firewire 800 connection. That's a fast little box.

For the kind of work I'm considering - 20 minute promos - the PowerBook should be fine and a MacBook Pro would kick serious arse.

Richard