Latest posts
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Buying Junior’s First Car
Because apparently $2,000 cars don’t exist anymore. Let me take you on a journey — back before anyone knew what a pandemic was, before it became perfectly normal to walk into a bank wearing a mask and not get shot. Happier times, for sure. Rewind 10 or 15 years and buying a cheap second car…
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Mrs Yuppy
It turns out I didn’t just grow up. I became the type of bloke I used to take the piss out of. Back in the early 80s, when I was growing up, one of my friend’s mums had a black BMW. And to my teenage mind, that was pretty much all the evidence I needed.…
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Big Boy Toys – My First Car and what the hell was I thinking?
My first supercar cost me £50. No, seriously. £50. It had a 956cc engine, a mighty 44 horsepower, and to 17-year-old me… it was bloody magnificent. 😂 The car? A 1974 blue Renault 5. As you’ll see in another story, I passed my driving test in November 1990. Not quite sure how…but somehow, I did.…
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Jolly’s Rule #1: Don’t Put Your Finger Where You Wouldn’t Put Your D!%k
Jolly’s Rule Number One about Health & Safety: Don’t put your finger where you wouldn’t put your D!%k. I’ve used that metaphor for years. I’ve used it in interviews with apprentices and mechanics. I’ve used it while training people on the shop floor. I probably say it multiple times a month at work. Most of…
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The Best Family Members Have 4 Paws
The Best Family Members Have 4 Paws Some family members have two legs. Some have four. And some have four paws, a ridiculous amount of hair, absolutely no understanding of the concept of personal space, and a firm belief that the food on your plate is for sharing. It’s not Daddy’s. It’s OURS. And apparently,…
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Snap, Crackle and Pop
Thirty years ago, Snap, Crackle and Pop was a breakfast cereal. Today, it’s the sound I make getting out of bed. And getting out of the car. And getting off the sofa. Come to think of it, pretty much any time I try to move from a sitting position to a standing position, there’s a…
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Japan — Day 2: A Little Town Called Tokyo
Day two in Japan. Jet lag, cherry blossoms, anime, McDonald’s, gaming shops, and a surprisingly important DVD. The one thing that wasn’t mentioned in any of the many YouTube videos, posts, blogs, chat rooms — you name it — was the first hurdle we were about to face. Jet lag. The time difference between North…
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Japan – Day 1: …….Well almost
Good Friday — April 3, 2026 After all the planning, the google maps, the arguments over which side of Tokyo things were actually on, and 115 days of learning Japanese… I was actually going to Japan. As all loving husbands do, having a wife who absolutely hates driving on the highway, I had her drop…
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36 Years of Work — What It Taught Me
I’ve been working for a long time. More than 36 years, in fact. When I look back, it’s hard to believe how much has happened during those years — the jobs, the people, the companies, the trucks, the equipment, the dealerships, the successes, the mistakes and everything in between. I certainly didn’t have a master…
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Japan — The Idea, the Planning and a Geographically Challenged Son
Why Japan? “Why did you go to Japan?” you may ask. Well… it wasn’t necessarily my choice. My son, who I travel a lot with, had always wanted to go to Japan. More specifically, he wanted to sit under a tree surrounded by cherry blossoms during cherry blossom season. He’d originally made plans to go…