Month: February 2003

I have to confess, I have something of a weakness for Saabs. The old shape 900 has a certain quirky charm and a whole lot of extras that you don’t usually get on these old cars. The new 900 loses some of the quirkiness but it’s got TONS of extras.

Well, the old Saab was written off by Stu, as you know – not his fault, the poor sod! So that left us looking for another car. Stu duly went out and procured himself an even older 900 for the princely sum of £50! So that just left me.

I spotted this accident-damaged 1994 900 SE Turbo Coupe on saabcentral.com, and the guy didn’t want a whole lot of money for it… I went and had a look (transported by my main man Peter to Shoreham-by-Sea), liked it, bought it – for £1150! Bargain, I hope…

Anyway, buying it was half the battle – fixing it up will be another story. It needs a new rear nearside quarter panel, and the wheel underneath it is a bit out of alignment. There’s a crack in the windscreen, and it needs a service (gulp!). But driving it is a pure delight, with electric everything, trip computer, heated wing mirrors(!), and of course that wonderful Turbo boost that lifts its skirts and disappears up the road at a hell of a pace!

Lovely car – let’s see if it turns out to be another money pit, eh? Touch wood, it won’t!

Eek! This morning I answered the door to a friendly middle-aged woman who served me Notice of Possession Order Hearing at Croydon Court! It seems that our property is in danger of being handed over to Bradford & Bingley…

The landlord tells me there’s nothing to worry about, that it’s all in hand. However, Croydon Court gave me a little more relief by telling me that repo orders are usually 28-day documents, and given that we’re moving at the end of March (hearing date 18th March), I reckon we’re cool.

We’re moving not a moment too soon, though – if the repo order is granted…

Been back a few weeks now, and I have to say that I’m soooo missing Oz – for the weather, if nothing else! John, Gwyn & I had the most fantastic time, met some cool people and drank enough to sink a battleship. Don’t worry – they’ve got plenty of booze left!

It was cool to hook up with our mates Kiz, Trav, Vix, Ben and Kez, not to mention Kiz’s parents Bev & Terry, who took exceedingly good care of us the night we stayed with them. Well, they fed us steak and got us pissed – what more can a body ask for??? 🙂 Needless to say, I’m missing them all now.

Australia is a fabulous country – by virtue of being HUGE, there’s heaps to see, and we barely scratched the surface. Fuel for a future trip, methinks – watch this space, as the fella so often says…

In the meantime, I’ll have to content myself with reading the Aussie weather reports and trying not to look out the window at the real world…!