Post by: w3526602 on August 14, 2019, 04:59:46 PM
Maybe a month before Barbara goes Titanium. Long chat with Physio-therapist yesterday, who recommended (demanded?) physio-therapy both before and after the operation. It's pathetic to watch Barbara struggle on two sticks ... from sitting start in armchair to sitting on the porcelain throne takes six minutes ... for six metres, in a bungalow. But she can still drive OK, once in the car.
DVLA will demand she drives an automatic only, for an unspecified period until after her second operation. I believe her left leg will be done first, but I don't know if that is relevent.
Thinks! Running costs are immaterial. Her new Hyundai IX20, has not yet reached 3,000 miles in six months. My Jimny is due for it's second refill since I bought it (can't remember when). The PO put £10 in to get me home (Gloucester to Milton Keynes). OK, there was probably already some gas in the tank, but still ....
It's the fixed overheads that are going to hurt. VED and Insurance.
I'd been thinking to replace her Hyundai with something new ... say £200 per month, but current finance payments will stop when the IX20 departs. Hey, can it be that easy? Probably not.
Now I'm wondering if I should splash out on an old Disco automatic, and let her keep the IX20 ... but would she let me keep the Jimny, if I promise to get rid of the Disco (or what ever) when she no longer needs an auto? And later change my mind ... we need a personnel carrier to carry our daughter and her two huge offspring.
She says we have finished paying for the three Adjustamatic armchairs and double bed, @ £600 per month? ... and now (I say) its my turn.
£600 per month? :agh How did she get that past me? ??? :-X Whatever, it didn't hurt.
Comments and advice please.
602
PS, if you are in the market for a NEW car, Google "How does Car Wow work?" 5% off can't be bad.
Post by: mrutty on August 14, 2019, 05:05:41 PM
Post by: Bottom Box on August 14, 2019, 05:10:24 PM
As an aside, stop frittering money away, you'll have nothing left for your old age. ;)
Chris
Post by: Grandadrob on August 14, 2019, 05:17:51 PM
Post by: Rog-from-Bix on August 14, 2019, 05:19:26 PM
A friend's wife has a motility car and blue badge due to medical condition making walking any distance a trial.
Post by: w3526602 on August 15, 2019, 02:53:35 AM
Thanks for your interest. And Bottom Box ... where have I heard that name before? :cheers Good to see you here again, Chris!
Barbara already has a blue badge, on the strength of her arthritis. I've been looking into Attendance Allowance (£2,000pa) but the need to fit everything into little spaces on the application form deters me. There is an on-line (interactive?) application, but it requires the PC to have a recent version of ... doh! Forgot the name of the program. Today, my PC told me it had been (or could be) loaded with the latest version, with no mention of money. I will investigate.
Our thanks for everybody's interest.
602
Post by: w3526602 on August 15, 2019, 03:11:00 AM
Reference that interactive program mentioned a few minutes ago .... I think it may be ACROBAT READER.
If you need help around the house, etc. due to ill health or poor mobility, Google ATTENDANCE ALLOWANCE. If you knew the difficulty I had in persuading Barbara that she should apply ... she was brought up with all the wrong attitudes.
602
Post by: Peter Holden on August 15, 2019, 06:24:05 AM
Contact Age UK or someone similar, they will help you fill in the online form. You may have to go to their office or they may come to you to help.
Acrobat Reader is not an interactive program and it is free.
Peter
Post by: w3526602 on August 15, 2019, 07:15:20 AM
Try logging onto ...
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814733/aa1-attendance-allowance-interactive-claim-form.pdf
But hey, what do I know? (fingers crossed) ;-)
602
Post by: w3526602 on August 15, 2019, 07:17:48 AM
ADOBE reader.
I'm still not fit to be let loose on the world.
;-)
602
Post by: w3526602 on August 15, 2019, 07:34:08 AM
Here follows my first attempt (in the best part of a good while) at posting a picture from my Photobucket files.
Fingers crossed.
javascript:void(0);
Hmmm! That don't look right. Kick Wilkie and back to the drawing board.
602
That picture might be available, in 602 friendly format, on my other lap-top.
Post by: w3526602 on August 15, 2019, 07:50:19 AM
Nope, photo not available on my other PC.
It IS available on this PC via PHOTOBUCKET, but I've forgotten how to COPY, and then PASTE it here.
??? Pretty please.
602
Post by: w3526602 on August 19, 2019, 08:25:56 AM
While prowling around around, I found this on Ebay....
(https://www.series2club.co.uk/new_forum/Smileys/wittsends/eBay.gif)
auction: #163814801769Not a lot of interest! Strange? Maybe because it petrol?
3,000 miles at 10mpg is 300 gallons. How much is a gallon of petrol these days? Lets call it £5 for easy mental arithmetic. £1500pa, say£120 per month. OK, so double it! That probably still works out cheaper than the repayments plus petrol on her Hyundai. Then there is the zero VED?
I bet there is a snag, ready to sneak up and bite our bums?
Just before Christmas is the time to buy a car. ???
602
Post by: Peter Holden on August 19, 2019, 09:20:52 AM
Could Barbara get in it?
Peter
Post by: armalites on August 19, 2019, 09:30:14 AM
Hi,
While prowling around around, I found this on Ebay....
Not a lot of interest! Strange? Maybe because it petrol?
3,000 miles at 10mpg is 300 gallons. How much is a gallon of petrol these days? Lets call it £5 for easy mental arithmetic. £1500pa, say£120 per month. OK, so double it! That probably still works out cheaper than the repayments plus petrol on her Hyundai. Then there is the zero VED?
I bet there is a snag, ready to sneak up and bite our bums?
Just before Christmas is the time to buy a car. ???
602
Do not even consider buying a P38 with the mileage you doing, I know it may seem so good logic in that you won't be as affected buy the fuel cost but they were the first LR where they started all the high tech stuff and I guarantee you will have problems due to lack of use. The battery will go flat in no time then you'll find half the stuff doesn't work. They are a fantastic car to drive but it's not the car for you.
You could buy an Auto D3 for around £3k if you were hell bent on having a LR. Even more electronic than a P38 but pretty durable and will diesels will do 25mpg. The D3 is very similar driving experience to the P38 but again if you get a wrong un it will ruin your life.
Post by: w3526602 on August 19, 2019, 11:22:47 AM
Thanks for your interest, comments and concerns.
Could Barbara get in it? Dunno! I've been trying to find a friendly looking Disco with a master who will let me measure the height of the driver's seat. In recent years it's been seats that were too low that were her problem. I offered to buy her a Smart "sports". She said she couldn't get down that low, and that was when her legs were only just starting to play up.
Personally, I'd prefer a Disco, (£££) but, no doubt, I would need all of this years ration of "leaning on her" to get her to agree.
My last Disco was written off when her last SAAB ran amok (in reverse) when she turned the key. She tried to steer round the Disco, but didn't quite succeed. Three vehicles written off, in less than 20ft, from a standing start. I wonder if I can find the photo? The assessor stopped counting when the cost of replacement panels (for the SAAB) reached £7,000.
602
Doh, no pictures on this PC.
Post by: w3526602 on August 19, 2019, 11:24:14 AM
My thanks to Wittsend for letting this run. :cheers
602
Post by: w3526602 on August 21, 2019, 06:23:13 AM
I searched for Land Rover Discovery Internal Dimensions and found a drawing showing the basic outlines of both the seats and tyres.
The top of the seats appear to be below the tops of the tyres. Seems good!
So, assuming new Discos are fitted wiith 205x16 tyres, I now need the OD of that size tyre. ??? Something in my memory suggests that 88" Series tyres are 30" OD. But I've learned to not trust memories of something I did many years ago.
I wonder if Google will tell me the OD from the tyre size.
602
Post by: w3526602 on August 21, 2019, 07:25:07 AM
I've managed to find something that may be relevent...
Tyres, 205/80/SR16 have an OD of 736mm and a loaded radius of 332mm. Hmmm ... soggy bottom! :cool
I'll work on UN-loaded OD, coz it won't be loaded until SWMBO climbs in.
Using my tape measure (to compare metric with imperial, coz it's easier than doing sums) 736mm is only a smidgen less than 29", which is Barbara's inside leg measurement. Hmmm! Lo-profile tyres, shorter springs, thicker shoes, stand on an A to Z? Hang on, she will normally be standing on the kerb, a freebie four inches. Whatever, back to the drawing board ...
Historic note ... Douglas Bader argued when his surgeon wanted to drop his height by a couple of inches, to improve his stability. Maybe I'm not comparing like with like. OK, it probably wasn't his surgeon ... more likely to have been his carpenter.
Keep brainstorming!
602
PS. Barbara rejected my suggestion of have a disabled bath ... said she would feel unsafe negotiating both a step and a gate simultaniously. And anyway, she wouldn't wear a swimsuit in the bath (like Thora Hird does)
Google "Mermaid bath hoist", which can
Post by: w3526602 on August 21, 2019, 02:24:53 PM
I'll try and wind this discussion down.
My thanks to Allan.
602
PS, If I can find the photo of Barbara sitting on
Post by: armalites on August 21, 2019, 08:29:18 PM
Hi,
I searched for Land Rover Discovery Internal Dimensions and found a drawing showing the basic outlines of both the seats and tyres.
The top of the seats appear to be below the tops of the tyres. Seems good!
So, assuming new Discos are fitted wiith 205x16 tyres, I now need the OD of that size tyre. ??? Something in my memory suggests that 88" Series tyres are 30" OD. But I've learned to not trust memories of something I did many years ago.
I wonder if Google will tell me the OD from the tyre size.
602
There hasn't been a Disco that came 205/16 for a long time, maybe and early one with.
For 200/300 with alloys then 235/70/16 is more common and the same for early Disco 2. I suspect a 205/16 will be the same circumference as a 235/70/16 as it was an option on RRC
With a D3 you can lower it to access height and also lower the seat height. I could measure mine if that is an option.
Post by: w3526602 on August 22, 2019, 05:28:57 AM
Thanks for advice.
I can't remember which of my S1s that I had at the time ... it may even have been my very first, a 1953 that had been stood in a garage for 11 years ... which means it was in the early 1970 that I owned it.
A tyre bay suggested fitting 205s ... "the same as they use on Range Rovers" (there was no mention of rim width) You are the first to disabuse me of that idea.
Luckily I found a derelict Humber Super Snipe
At one point in my life, I was buying old truck tyres 750-16 (12 PR) for thirty shillings, and paying £1 to have them re-cut. I've done "impecunious". (I'm still doing it, but at a different level) Er ... I now believe what I was doing was illegal ... recuts are/were allowed on trucks, but not on cars. ???
Er, for many, many years, I have been fitting 205s on all my Series ... but always on wider 109" rims.
602
PS. The object of this exercise was to establish the height of a Disco front seat cushion, without having a car in front of me
Your comments about "ruining my life are noted".
Post by: Peter Holden on August 22, 2019, 06:42:03 AM
Peter
Post by: w3526602 on August 22, 2019, 07:56:16 AM
Better men than me ......
I have watched her stand in the middle lane of the M4, traffic passing (albeit slowly) both sides, with her and a police sergeant wagging fingers in each others faces. How did it end? "Get your wife out of my sight, and I'll say no more about this!"
She got pulled over on the M4. Refused to get out of her car until the officer showed some form of identification. He didn't, so they discussed the matter through the 2" gap at top of her window. How did it end? "I clocked you at 104mph. Don't let me catch you again!"
When she was Information/Press Officer at DVLA, she attended the monthly meetings with the Sec of State. First meeting was with Linda Chalker (a lovely lady) Second meeting with Tom King (Linda Chalker had taken over Hong Kong). Half an hour before the meeting, she was told she was taking the Chair. :agh She met the Sec of State in the lift at lunch time. "They dropped you in it there!", he commented.
There can't be many Civil Servants who "break the ice", by asking the Sec of State if their MGB has heavy steering.
A constable told her she was required to carry her licence. "I represent DVLA at the monthly meetings of Chief Constables! While they want us to carry our driving licences, it is not the law (yet)!"
Barbara once challenged a decision made by the Head of DVLA Policy Branch. :agh Nobody had ever done that before. Barbara's argument was accepted.
I once owned a rather unpleasant 13.2hh pony. It went to bite Barbara. It missed. She didn't ... she bit it's ear. From then on, Fury was very well behaved when Barbara was present.
To paraphrase (?) the last lines of "The Sexual Live of a Hedgehog" (sung to the tune of the Eton Boating Song) .....
"The margin of comparative safety...."
"Is enjoyed by the
Actually, Barbara is a "sweetie" ... provided you are not attacking me. That's her job.
602
PS ... and don't mess with my daughter, who is also a sweetie ... and a Bank Manager (Business) at an international bank.
PPS ... Me? I know my place.
Post by: w3526602 on August 30, 2019, 06:44:36 AM
Telephone call. Operation cancelled!
As far as I can make out (but hey, what do I know?) ... this is a NHS funded operation, taking place at a private clinic (seperate rooms).
As I understand it, they feel Barbara needs to be in a ward with a nurse in constant attendance. I could be wrong in my understanding.
We have medical insurance (Beneden), but they specifically exclude new knees (but they did pay for my hearing aids).
Back to the drawing board.
602
PS. Wilkie ... fetch Daddy's kicking boots.
PPS. I assume we have all heard the "Lourdes wheel-chair" joke? When they dragged the wheel-chair out of the pool, it had two new tyres and a back-dated MOT.
PPS. If it makes a difference, and if anybody knows about these things and what they cost, we could probably raise five figures at short notice, hands in pockets, whistling ... interest at 3%. Even one knee would help.
Er, have I got that right? 1% of £10,000 is £100pa ... say £2 per week? So 3% is £6 per week?
Hmmm! Even thinking about it will land me in the matrimonial dog-house ... but I haven't yet used this years quota of "putting my foot down". :cool