weekend away

There is always something really nice about visiting the parents, a chance to get out of London, a chance for a little bit of change of scenery. The food, cooking like it should be. But getting out of London reveals what driving is about. There are tourist films and images of driving along English country roads, fields on each side, open spaces. Well that is also what I love about visiting my parents. It is the actually pleasure of driving. In London it is okay at best, judge the time to leave, thread through the traffic watching out that the speedometer does not put you with a massive fine. TomTom is an amassing thing. SatNav just over a £100. This is such a thing taken for granted but to think of what we are using. We have Satellites (24 for US satnav) in orbit and these are what TomTom in the car links to. The fact you know the route is not the reason not to use it. If there is a diversion then known route is useless. But as mentioned I kept speed on way back to 70 mph. I averaged over 38mpg on the way to my parents I averaged about 60 mph and only improved fuel consumption by about 1 mpg which I was surprised about. I just expected 4 - 5 mpg reduction on way back plus I had just tanked up with 60 litres of petrol which must be some weight. All this proves not too much, except with me and my awesome other half it is still cheaper to take the car over the train, plus much easier to lug all the stuff from A to B.

The Car

End of another week. I took the car out today, normally it never moves for days on end but this week I've used it four times. Including this evening. London is a cool city to drive through when it is late. The traffic moves the place looks real nice, all lit up. The fact that cities the world over look so nice a night is, I think, that really they are a lot that is not nice about them. Grime and homeless people, at least at night these are not so visible. At least not as you drive past glancing out of the window making sure no one is going to ram into you. Travel by bus though and you see a different set of sites as you have time to wait at the bus stops, you step over the puke avoid the puddles of urine as you enter the tube station cast your eyes past the person asking lose change please as they do every night. Where do these people go? Also the car protects you from the blokes (more often sadly is men) who are sky high on drugs. Stating to you as you pass them, "are you the Police". To which you say, "no, no." Discreetly stepping to other side of bus stop, where they grab the seat next to you saying, "don't sit here". Not knowing if they have a knife obvious that they are not stable you walk off to next stop and hope they don't follow. Tomorrow is Monday and back to normal and the fun of public transport again in the real world.