lurker75

So I start the gti on Wednesday morning to be greeted with a smell of burning and a small plume of smoke rising from the steering column. Too burny to be good and too close to my crotch to ignore it was off to the garage on the back of a low loader for three days of proding and FIRE INCIDENT REPORTs, before I got it back this morning. The reason? "The windscreen wiper switch was arcing, it was very dusty in there." Dusty, DUSTY! Who cleans the inside of their steering column? So I have two questions. 1. Steering column cleaner. where do I get one and can I run it off the lighter? 2. I want an in-car fire alarm that says "Fire! The untamed element! Giver of warmth! Destroyer of forests! Right now, this car is on fire! Leave the car! Reenact the age-old drama of self-preservation!" Any suggestions?

I teach primary. Primary 5 at the moment, but I've covered every stage except nursery since I started. It's a job unlike anything that I've done before. It's a strange combination of routine, surprise, amazement and horror, often over the course of 15 minutes. Al's friend is right about the PGCE course, it's exhausting, especially if you are supporting yourself at the same time. I managed to avoid that by setting myself a target and raising the money that I would need to pay for my life before starting the course. The money didn't last, of course, but it ment that I only had to work a couple of times during the course. If you decide to take it on good luck to you. We need more male teachers in primary schools if your interested. In my first placement I was the only man in the building, including support staff. The kids called me Mrs for the first two months.

I'm probably the opposite. The teachers at my school were happy if we lived through a school day without a major assault. I was getting told I would make a great teacher aged twelve but rebelled against it and did anything else just to prove them wrong. Now here I am four years a teacher and it just feels right. The time it took me to work out that everyone was right and I was an idiot wasn't wasted, I wouldn't be able to do my job at all if I hadn't learned how to read people and think on my feet in the time that I was doing other things. If teaching is for you, it finds you in the end. You'll be better now than you would be if you had started at 18.

I'll agree with the lack of feedback and the clutch and steering are far too light, but the GTi is fun, fast and remarkable at high speeds given its wheelbase. I gave up a VR6 for mine and I wouldn't go back. As to the all important todger question, mine is only average sized, but next to the lupo it looks HUGE! So thumbs up all round style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumbup:" border="0" alt="thumbup.gif" />

I've had my GTi for a week and all I've ordered is a sweet and sour pork and a magic tree air freshener. I'm starting to feel a little inadequate.

Do I detect a Maker? http://www.makezine.com/blog/

Picked up the car this morning and have already emptied and refilled the tank. My GOD! I've driven from the darkness into the light. I'll try to make it out to the Quay tomorrow and see what the Scottish experts think but I've got a lot of work on for Monday. Do all Loop drivers smile like this?

The sound draws you in, but it's the torque that gets you hooked.

Fish? Potatoes? Nae man, these things are the work of the devil. style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":evil:" border="0" alt="evil.gif" /> In these parts the battered Fruit and Nut is considered a balanced meal.

I'm in the beating, fatty heart of the nation of Scotland. Also called Airdrie. Some snippets of Airdrie information for the unenlightened. 1. We invented the Buckfast Tonic Wine black pudding. 2. We invented the Buckfast Tonic Wine and deepfried Mars Bar lunch. 3. We also like deepfried Bounty Bars, for that totally tropical taste. As for the Lupo she is black, untouched by the hands of men (one lady owner) and possibly the best thing I've seen in rubber shoes.

After 3 years of VR6 I'm downsizing and upfuning, if there is such a word, to a Lupo GTi on saturday! With the money I'll save in petrol I fully expect to put a downpayment on my first tropical island by April, May at the latest. The Ageing Lurker