Nearly £120 fine and 6 points on my licence!!

Couldn't believe it when a letter arrived a couple of days ago telling me I had been captured on a speed camera doing 67 mph in a 50mph zone on the M4. It was at 00:20am in the morning, not another car in sight!! We were coming back from the ferry after crossing the Irish Sea from our holidays. The ferry was 4 hours late, and I was trying to get back home as quickly as I could... Ah well a fair cop I guess. So I sent a cheque for £60 and my licence away yesterday for them to put 6 points on it for me.
Imagine my horror this morning when I get a letter from the Northumbrian Police saying I got tagged by another camera on the same day but in Sunderland, and driving a Vauxhall Astra !! Someone is seriously taking the piss...It was my company car unit gave the rozzers the wrong information...but it made the old sphincter twitch I can tell you.!!

Audi and the Fireplace

I've got a brand new Audi A4 2.0 TDi on the driveway for a couple of days. I'm due to change my company car in January, so I am having a look at three possible candidates for the new vehicle. The Audi is nice....it's a 7 speed multi-tronic diesel. It goes like asteam train, and using the steering wheel paddles to go up and down gears is fun. It looks and feels great from a driver's perspective, and the boot is ginormous!! BUT.....the ride is a bit harsh with very stiff rear suspension, making it a bit bumpy for rear seat passengers. My Mondeo is bigger accross the back seat, and has a tad more leg room, so with three hulking boys in tow, we need all the room we can get... Next month I'm trying a BMW 320i...I'll keep the blog posted...
Oh and the fireplace is finished...here's a photo...just got to get on and decorate now...

The week-end is gone, and the fireplace is not finished.

I nearly made the fireplace completely this weekend, but had a little problem with the mantel. I want it to be big ie. 6 inches square, by the width of the chimney brest. Trying to pick which sides of this long skinny box, were going to be the top, and the front proved difficult..also how am I going to plug the ends.??? It looks really good, and I'll upload a photo when its finished. Then there is the walls to prepare. Must find the steamer we bought a while ago. it should help us strip the wallpaper off quickly. I'm not looking forward to cleaning and painting the ceilings and skirting boards, but it will have to be done...