Aberdeen

Two Cougar runs in two days to Aberdeen for the best of all possible reasons: seeing my new, one day old grand daughter, a wonderful sight and I'd happily drive three times the distance to repeat it. Having a prize like that at the end of your journey makes all the difference to the driving and travelling experience and the car was in perfect form for the conveniently empty roads (once past the potholes of Fife and Dundee that is).

Fiesta

Spent an almost pleasant day yesterday driving a new Ford Fiesta along the M27 and through Southampton. I'm really impressed with this little car, its ultra solid feel, its handling and the easy to drive smoothness of all the controls and the gearbox. Knocks spots off the VW Polo and Renault I've been driving in previous weeks. A nice runabout perhaps when I'm about ready for the bus pass. I have always liked Fiestas, right from the first model I drove in 1979. Despite the fact that I've never owned one I see them as a happy kind of car, that may sound odd but its true, they have a good nature and that isn't something you could readily say about the outworking of many modern car designs.

The art of Noja

Though my head and heart say keep the Cougar (and I will) some other part of my body or perhaps some indistinct esoteric spiritual place is saying dumb things like “Lexus Soarer 4.0” but in English. Of course I will ignore the distraction or itch if you will and like most fanciful electrical brain sparks it must cool itself down in a bucket of water any day now. I just need to avoid Autotrader and a 400 mile radius from EH anything.

So loyalty to the Cougar continues and I’m planning some kind of summer run for me and the kids. Going abroad (even via Dover) is attractive but not really affordable unless some last minute bargain and personal brainstorm comes up. It’s looking like the badly surfaced roads of Argyll, the twists of the Great Glen or the tortuous caravan busting straights on the A9. Then there are the great midge intakes and unintentional swallows, the drizzle, the unexpected sunshine and the bloody tourists. Challenges the currently newly serviced and shod Cougar will relish in it’s currently prone and agile state, not so sure about me.

Uneven

Mad dash in traffic today from the airport, across the Forth Bridge and into the black heart of Fife. The mad dash however was at 5 o'clock so it was severely limited in its actual dashing, it was more of a bumper to bumper grind. I'd left Oxford about 1 PM and via Birmingham flown north so it was the climax of a long journey and one that ultimately was more successful than I'd expected. I made it to the parents night just in time for the first interview.

Sum of its parts

The Cougar Continuous Improvement Programme is rolling on albeit at a costly pace. That's Ford genuine parts for you - nobody in the aftermarket business can be bothered to do sumps for Ford Zetecs? The new sump is now in place, sealed and filled nicely and a major service (they all are with this car) is complete. It is driving rather nicely now and the only thing outstanding at the moment is to replace the rather thin set of front tyres that, if checked by the authorities could get me a nasty fine. I'll be round at Farmers first thing Monday morning.

Sump

The old sump has had its day. It leaks and drips and whilst not worrying the hell out of me I've always wandered at what point it would collapse. In a few days a new (£) sump will be installed, new oil will sit in it and gurgle through it and hopefully the old engine will run sweet as an Indonesian peanut for another few thousand miles. A long awaited service will also take place so the MPG may get some kind of an artificial boost, that doesn't always happen so I'm ready for a disappointment.

Got my Mojo back

Phew! Nice to drive a car with fully working brakes again...

No Cougar

No Cougar?

The brake pipe is in a difficult to access location i.e. somewhere in the car that's not quite under the bonnet so no car today. Other cars and methods of transport are however available but it looks like there will be no Cougar progress until later tomorrow.

Catastrophic failure

Catastrophic brake failure. No fluid left in the reservoir. Driving without brakes is an interesting and engaging experience and one that nobody should have to suffer for too long. I've since topped up the brake fluid and there is of course air and now a little pressure in the system, for the mean time. The car goes to the shop on Tuesday.

Just before the brakes died it had a pressure wash and a valet on Friday, shame it's not really up to being driven.

Car wash £4.85

I've been both busy and lazy recently, busy getting married (on Saturday 15th May) and lazy about doing anything at all to the Cougar other than using it as a willing workhorse. For the past few weeks I've been shopping, collecting, delivering and being a taxi for the big event. Now it's over and an almost as large clear up is underway and I suspect a new season of de-clutter. The de-clutter exercise may generate many more miles of the same. Life with all it's contradictory simplicity and complexity goes on on. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Today, between various utility runs I made it to a car wash for the first time in months.

More things

Not a real test of the Cougar's boot space but a useful illustration of bizarre cargo carried in this large and leaky space - £28.50 worth of Milky Bar Moments, don't ask me why.

Speaking of leaks the current sump situation is starting to look increasingly dodgy and I suspect that surgery will be required shortly. Currently domestic priorities dictate the pace and order of things so the Gulf of Mexico sized hemorrhage will remain untreated for a few days anyway, as will the forward facing slicks (that shouldn't be quite so slick).

Drips

And it lights up at night.

Finding oily, dripping patches in places where you regularly park your car can be quite disconcerting, it also starts a train of niggling thoughts and notions that leads to full blown worry. Worry leads to sleepless nights, overeating, blaming others and ultimately bad driving habits as your concentration is blown. So what of the drips? Well I could of course look and see if there are any obvious spillages from other vehicles, run a finger under mine and see what's what or just ignore it altogether and rake over the stained chippings. All of these are decent enough things to do - a better idea would be to get on with the now overdue service and so allow my mind to return to it's normal peaceful pastures. Common sense needs to prevail and will...in a few weeks.