Travelling On

greenbee

Skype is dead. Teams is the work of the devil. Webex is difficult. Zoom has 'touch up my appearance' so I look less dead on it. So it's my favourite. 

Karmacat

Oh my word  I hadn't realised skype was dead in that sense - I used it a few weeks ago, but the other party was calling me, so maybe they were charged, and I didn't realise?  Anyway, next meeting is now due to be 6th September, after holiday in foreign parts  and trip to see Norfolk rellies, so hopefully it will be moot.

ETA - just seen how many people like zoom, and my space buddy offered another time to sort it out outside of the meeting, so I might do that, in between the two trips away, maybe.  I still hope for it to be in person, though though the feedback is *very* much appreciated - it's me, not zoom, so I'll persevere.

Went out for a build-my-stamina walk this morning, tried to create some puff, not bad.  

My holiday list is really helpful to have.  Completely done:
- space research
- covid checks on nhs app (I can't even remember what this even means, to be honest)
- wash all new clothes purchases
- download all documents
- back up computer
- pay French management charge
- cancel starz payment (well coordinated response from them yesterday by email, I'm v impressed).
- buy covid tests (delivered today, delivery for them also impressive, 5 star feedback given for the delivery guy).

Partly done:
- charge and load new kindle
- charge batteries for torch
- get natwest card functional (pin reminder is on it's way)
- check July and August birthdays - cards chosen from stash
- currency needs assessed, need to fill in forms and take delivery
- weeding - doing it very strategically  

16 items untouched, plus normal things like cleaning the shopping.  And packing I'll pay attention to the Partly Done, I think, though I'll wait for the currency till tomorrow, when I can talk to my sister at length.  Some destination research might be nice, and I have a youtube site open on another tab that teaches a bit of Icelandic plenty to do!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, exciting to be learning Icelandic!

Karmacat

Very though to be honest I haven't done any yet   I did do more weeding, though - and there's a good big area completely cleared now, so over the weekend I think it's time to start planting out my perennials, including the new ones (yikes).

Been out for a walk locally with my sister, though we didn't discuss currency in the end, but at least the ordinary hand sanitiser I bought to get free delivery from Lloyds has arrived.  The walk was especially lovely as we got to see all the piglets, and even the *adult* pigs too - as well as the orchard, they have nice big pens, and an area that the piglets can reach but not the sows, as piglets tend to get squashed by their mums sometimes.  

This afternoon - I reckon I'll do the cards that are due over the next few months, get them done, I can put another tick on the list Sweeping the floors might not go amiss either     

Karmacat

Hello campers just catching up:

- I won £50 on PB in the recent draw, hurray.

- just done 60 points of YG, over halfway to the next £50 now.

- Happy Wheel, won about £1 this week, ha, and a free bingo ticket is just playing through.

- mega amounts of cleaning done yesterday, both the house and me  bit shattered now.

- sorted finances (not AirBNB amounts) for the holiday - will pay that first thing tomorrow, I have an irrational dislike of making payments on days when the banks are closed.

- sorted recipe for a cheapo Jamie O recipe, eggless cake.  After that, its making flapjacks to put in the freezer so I have one to take with me the morning in the hotel, before we board the ship, and then I'm kind of done with cooking  

- I just watched the free bingo game play out, I find it mesmerising no win for me this time, I'll survive  

Quite tired after yesterday, so I'm just going to pootle about, do things that don't need much physical effort, then go for a gentler walk than usual this afternoon.

Karmacat

Pootling entailed a bit of research on having a car.  I'm really torn (again) as I've just been watching the three parter on Greta Thunberg put out by the Beeb, but checking finances seemed to be sensible.  I'll just give myself nightmares at the environmental cost if I decide to go for it.

8000 2nd hand Renault Zoe
1000 refresher lessons

550 comp insurance with breakdown cover via confused.com
0      road tax
55    MOT
500  typical repairs in a year
800  electricity for fuel

This would mean savings outlay of £9k, then outlay of £2k a year, for however long I had it.  I have space for an at-home charger.

I just don't know.  I wouldn't spend on holidays the way I have, that's for sure.  But my day to day life would be a lot more pleasant - I could drive to the coast, about 10 miles away, perfectly easily.  The way the roads are round here, I wouldn't dare use an electric bike outside of the town, on the roads between towns, they're all country roads that are only very slightly enlarged.

Good to know the figures, though.

Cheery_Daff

Really useful to see the cost, well done for working it out. I confess I initially thought you were going to have 1000 refresher lessons!! 😮😮😂 you probably won't need 1000! (And I suppose you may well not need £1000 worth but difficult to know without starting!)

Your insurance would probably come down a lot after the first year. When we first got a second car, I'd only been a named driver, never had a policy in my name before, and the cheapest I could get was £700 for the year. The next year it was about £350, and it's been about £220-250 ever since. 

You might also find you don't need £500 a year for repairs either, although wise to include that. Some years I don't spend that on my old banger cars, but then it builds up nicely for the many years that I do!

Do some places still do free charging points, or is that a thing of the past now?!

Definitely good to know the figures 😊

badmemory

I think re the car (talking as someone a bit older) it may be a good idea sooner rather than later even if you only use it for a limited number of things in your week.  Taxis can get expensive & certainly won't be getting any cheaper, but that aside, driving is like riding a bike you don't forget how normally, but the sooner you get back into it the better.

beanielou

My friend is on her 3rd Zoe.
They are great!

themadvix

Some places still have free charging Cheery, but not sure for how much longer. KC, are the electricity figures based on a cheap overnight rate like Octopus Go (currently 7p/kWh between 12 and 4.30 am.).

Re repairs, EVs need new brakes, tyres, new wipers and that’s about it… they have far fewer moving parts and cost a lot less in maintenance generally, so hopefully you wouldn’t need that. Mr MV reckons (from his work-related  comparisons) that maintenance should be about 50% of the cost of an ICE vehicle.