Archive

Archive for May, 2008

Bank Holiday Weather

May 26th, 2008 No comments

Well apparently, we’ve had a miserable rain-drenched bank holiday weekend – that is, if you believe the southern centric ‘there’s nothing north of Watford’ UK media.

Not so – we’ve had glorious weather on all three days up here in the North West of England.

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Ridiculous Train Fares

May 20th, 2008 No comments

We’re off up to Glasgow next month. Since we’re going without the children we thought we’d try going by train instead, that was until we saw the price.

By car it is a 400 mile round trip which, even with current silly diesel prices at £1.20/litre, would cost around £45.

By comparison, the cost of a two return so-called ‘saver’ rail tickets is £120! Note that this is not some last minute booking here, the trip is over a month away and the cheapest ‘advance saver’ available is £120.

It’s a no-brainer – the car wins hands down. When you add the cost of taxis to and from Glasgow Station, it means that we could drive to Glasgow and back three times and still be cheaper.

Pronunciation of ‘Britax’

May 4th, 2008 No comments

Britax have been making child car seats for as long as I can remember, and I have always pronounced it “Brit-axe” as in British. After all, didn’t they used to have a Union Flag as part of their logo?

According to the Dictionary of Trade Name Origins, the name does in fact come from a contraction of ‘British Accessories’.

However, if you call their customer helpline, they answer as “Brytax”? Has it always been this way or is it because they are now German owned and want to lose the British connection?

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Car Seat Legislation and Large Cars

May 4th, 2008 No comments

You’ve got to hand it to the British Government: they introduced legislation that a child seat is now required for all children up to the age of 12. We only have two children, but I’ve noticed that after you’ve installed two child seats into our ‘family sized’ estate car, there is no room left for another adult, let alone another car seat. Anyone with more than two children therefore needs a larger vehicle, but is then taxed at a higher rate by a government who forced them into that purchase in the first place.

Either one part of the government doesn’t know what the other half is doing, or it is brilliant scheme to raise taxes. My guess is the former.

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