Saturday 10th July
Deja vu....Lots of to-ing and fro-ing over where this meet was going to take place until we finally settled on Jake's Ma and Pa's place...it made sense for all sorts of reasons
.
Martin came up from London via Shirley near Brum, Shane popped up from Leicestershire and I had a real nice drive across the Wolds in the V8. It was an early start for all of us...but earliest for Martin who was ready to roll at 4.30am!
Martin and I met at Metheringham train station as Jake's place isn't the easiest to get to on a first visit...as we were early we caught up on recent events until we were interrupted by an embarrassed chappie and his dad in a VW Polo – poor old Jake! Still, at least he was mobile....not only had they already been to the vets, they'd been shopping too! We gave them a five minute head start but as we got back behind the wheels of the V8s a black ZT flew by and we knew Shane was on time...
Arriving back at Jake's five minutes before he did....
.....Oh, ok, scratch that.....arriving back at Jake's seconds after he had got there, we found he had already jumped into his ZT-T to meet Shane at the end of his 'driveway' so we followed rapidly onto the unrestricted section of tarmac...
Mum and dad had the parasols at the ready, fresh coffee on the go and bacon, sausage and egg butties not far behind....I have to admit, I love visiting Jake's house. Not only are the whole family complete car nuts, they are also extremely hospitable, warm, friendly and fun....I always leave there with a smile on my face.
Martin had come over ostensibly to do a deal with Jake on a head unit.....in reality he just loves coming over this way for the craic.....oh and to plan his dream retirement location... Shane was there for a walnut dash from Jake for his ZT – obviously a man of good taste, sophistication and an appreciation of woodeny shiny things....(probably even in the dark James.UK 
) Me? I was there to uhhhhmmmm eat bacon butties! Well, that and just to see everyone..having been in enforced seclusion for the best part of two weeks.
So, having done the 'meet and greets' we got down to the serious business of eating and chatting...and enjoying the spectacular scenery and good weather........finally, we thought we had better spend ten minutes or so on the cars....not least because Shane was on a time limit.....and the poor love was going to have to boot his rather lovely (and not to say rare), CDTi auto ZT back down south. After a relatively quick main dash piece swap and a bit of haggling betwixt Jake and Jake as to whether he wanted a double din unit or a Hi line set up all was sorted and decided.
We bid farewell to Shane, (great to meet you mate!) then moved onto having a nosey around Martin's ZT-T Harmon Kardon set-up. During which, completely inexplicably, Jake decided to play musical cars....which was fine until Martin wanted a go and promptly reversed back onto his Load Space Protector – hand built and supplied by yours truly. Happily it slid along the gravel rather than splintering into a million fragments much to my and Martin's relief!
After further coffee we set off down the drive for a quick photo-shoot.....I drove Martin's, Jake drove mine and Martin got a surprise in Jake's CDTi ZT-T...shocked he was by the clutch and the torquey pick-up!
Now Martin is a very gentle, quiet, unassuming and genuinely nice guy...but even he couldn't resist asking if it was ok to attempt a 'brisk' exit down the 'driveway'......which he promptly did...scaring a nearby farmer and leaving smoking black tracks behind him.....seeing an estate car move like that was quite astounding!
My turn to leave....closer to the house this time...so a much more 'decorous' exit natch....it must've been, the traction control didn't even blink....
Unfortunately, both Martin and myself had small 'issues' getting home.....Martin's new whizzy bangy double dinny thingywotsit decided that as it was in Lincolnshire it must be lost.....well...he DID reach the end of the drive before it made this astoundingly accurate decision.. Whilst my older, not-so whizzy aircon compressor decided to go down in a blaze of glory...almost literally on the journey home...me having had the cheek to actually try using it after the outside temp had reached 33degrees...luckily, when the aircon became warm and er....somewhat smokey...I was able to pull over to discover the already guessed reason for my angst....ok, so it had whined ever since I got her...so I had rarely used it...once cooled down it blew cold air once again but she'll be saying in 'Econ' mode if I venture out before it gets replaced!
So, a great day, not in the least spoilt by the wee gremlins that popped out of the Lincolnshire landscape briefly. Many, many thanks to Jake and family for their hospitality! The best bit? They enjoyed it so much they're planning a future meet on their driveway! (See the pictures...you'll understand...)
Deja vu....Lots of to-ing and fro-ing over where this meet was going to take place until we finally settled on Jake's Ma and Pa's place...it made sense for all sorts of reasons
.Martin came up from London via Shirley near Brum, Shane popped up from Leicestershire and I had a real nice drive across the Wolds in the V8. It was an early start for all of us...but earliest for Martin who was ready to roll at 4.30am!
Martin and I met at Metheringham train station as Jake's place isn't the easiest to get to on a first visit...as we were early we caught up on recent events until we were interrupted by an embarrassed chappie and his dad in a VW Polo – poor old Jake! Still, at least he was mobile....not only had they already been to the vets, they'd been shopping too! We gave them a five minute head start but as we got back behind the wheels of the V8s a black ZT flew by and we knew Shane was on time...
Arriving back at Jake's five minutes before he did....
.....Oh, ok, scratch that.....arriving back at Jake's seconds after he had got there, we found he had already jumped into his ZT-T to meet Shane at the end of his 'driveway' so we followed rapidly onto the unrestricted section of tarmac...Mum and dad had the parasols at the ready, fresh coffee on the go and bacon, sausage and egg butties not far behind....I have to admit, I love visiting Jake's house. Not only are the whole family complete car nuts, they are also extremely hospitable, warm, friendly and fun....I always leave there with a smile on my face.
Martin had come over ostensibly to do a deal with Jake on a head unit.....in reality he just loves coming over this way for the craic.....oh and to plan his dream retirement location...
Shane was there for a walnut dash from Jake for his ZT – obviously a man of good taste, sophistication and an appreciation of woodeny shiny things....(probably even in the dark James.UK ) Me? I was there to uhhhhmmmm eat bacon butties! Well, that and just to see everyone..having been in enforced seclusion for the best part of two weeks.So, having done the 'meet and greets' we got down to the serious business of eating and chatting...and enjoying the spectacular scenery and good weather........finally, we thought we had better spend ten minutes or so on the cars....not least because Shane was on a time limit.....and the poor love was going to have to boot his rather lovely (and not to say rare), CDTi auto ZT back down south. After a relatively quick main dash piece swap and a bit of haggling betwixt Jake and Jake as to whether he wanted a double din unit or a Hi line set up all was sorted and decided.
We bid farewell to Shane, (great to meet you mate!) then moved onto having a nosey around Martin's ZT-T Harmon Kardon set-up. During which, completely inexplicably, Jake decided to play musical cars....which was fine until Martin wanted a go and promptly reversed back onto his Load Space Protector – hand built and supplied by yours truly. Happily it slid along the gravel rather than splintering into a million fragments much to my and Martin's relief!
After further coffee we set off down the drive for a quick photo-shoot.....I drove Martin's, Jake drove mine and Martin got a surprise in Jake's CDTi ZT-T...shocked he was by the clutch and the torquey pick-up!
Now Martin is a very gentle, quiet, unassuming and genuinely nice guy...but even he couldn't resist asking if it was ok to attempt a 'brisk' exit down the 'driveway'......which he promptly did...scaring a nearby farmer and leaving smoking black tracks behind him.....seeing an estate car move like that was quite astounding!
My turn to leave....closer to the house this time...so a much more 'decorous' exit natch....it must've been, the traction control didn't even blink....
Unfortunately, both Martin and myself had small 'issues' getting home.....Martin's new whizzy bangy double dinny thingywotsit decided that as it was in Lincolnshire it must be lost.....well...he DID reach the end of the drive before it made this astoundingly accurate decision..
Whilst my older, not-so whizzy aircon compressor decided to go down in a blaze of glory...almost literally on the journey home...me having had the cheek to actually try using it after the outside temp had reached 33degrees...luckily, when the aircon became warm and er....somewhat smokey...I was able to pull over to discover the already guessed reason for my angst....ok, so it had whined ever since I got her...so I had rarely used it...once cooled down it blew cold air once again but she'll be saying in 'Econ' mode if I venture out before it gets replaced!So, a great day, not in the least spoilt by the wee gremlins that popped out of the Lincolnshire landscape briefly. Many, many thanks to Jake and family for their hospitality! The best bit? They enjoyed it so much they're planning a future meet on their driveway! (See the pictures...you'll understand...
)