Saturday 4 September 2010

Revenge of the coffee gods

So there I was driving to Lairg for the launch of the Sutherland Partnership Action Plan and I was perturbed by a rather unpleasant rumbling in the car. Now the car has only just been serviced - new suspension and all sorts of wongles and stuff - so I was rather upset.

But the best thing to do in such situations is to keep driving cos it's bound to be nothing and it'll go away and if you turn up the music REALLY loud you can hardly hear it, and anyway - what can you do? Look at it? What the f*** good will that do?

But eventually - I mean that noise is getting worse. So I found an unusually large passing place and pulled in determined to stare the noise down into submission.

From some dark recess I decided that I should grab one of the wheels and shake it. Obviously you can't move wheels - they're like bolted on. But for some reason I thought it was a good idea.

And do you know what? It moved. A lot. It rattled. Aaargh. It was almost falling off!

So I found the jack. Took the wheel off. Put the wheel back on again and all was fine and dandy.

The man at the garage apologised in a really not very apologetic way "We all make mistakes" he said. That doesn't convince me too much.

Anyway I got to Lairg. Lord Thurso, my MP, gave the keynote address. He was very impressed by the Sutherland Partnership Action Plan because, he said, it included the word 'action' in the title. He made much of this word action and what a pleasing development it was to see it.

I do wonder sometimes.

4 comments:

IWP said...

Guess it could have been worse: he could have said 'inaction'!

Hope the building works continue apace. A Scot - never been to your part of the world, but following 5 years just below the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, we're now seriously considering a move to N.Scotland/Isles.

Mike The Bike said...

The worst bit about using the mechanic up there is he'll no doubt be the only garage for 50 miles, so I suppose you can't 'sack' him?

Well done for checking the noise (worth doing cos sometimes it is something simple and obvious to see) but gawd nose why you'd want to shake your wheel. You're nuts (were loose).

%-)

Word verification:
"inesses" - poor excuses and claims of innocence from the guilty party when challenged over their crime.

KitYule said...

If you ever change a wheel, for whatever reason, set your alarm for 50 miles or an hour's driving. Then check them lugs!

The Speaking Goat said...

Thanks for the comments guys.
IWP - Good luck with the plans to move - I guess it'd be warmer down here - but maybe wetter...

Mike and Chris - Other people have suggested that you should check wheel bolts after a service so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on the garage afterall. And for information - we could change the garage - we put the van to another garage for example, but they have the customer service ethos of a demented slug soaked in whisky eating opium poppies in a sauna....