Saturday, 5 March 2016

5 March 2016



What insanity is it that compels us to leap into our cars at this time of year, just because the sun is shining?  I did so today, with the temperature hovering around zero, and didn’t even put up the top. Of course I dressed up warmly; of course I ignored the look of disbelief on my wife’s face; and of course I got quite cold. Although my left leg was often stretched, somewhat hopefully, across to the sliding vent in the floor (put there to allow through some of the heat from my 7-litre heater), my right leg was suffering an icy blast from the side vent which I cannot close because it would then obstruct the accelerator pedal. Moreover my flying helmet does not protect the nose and so it was not the most comfortable of journeys.



     Had I not been in such a hurry and/or if the journey had been longer I would have topped up my defences - a rug around the upper legs and a half-tonneau across the passenger side. The latter forces whatever warmth that comes via the floor vent, or through the firewall, to flow past my torso and face. But because my spare wheel is mounted where the driver’s door should be, it does mean that I have to do a James Bond and leap over the bodywork (and the spare) to gain entry or exit. At the age of 77, this is not as elegant, nor as easy as I would wish.  
 
 Old age and vanity, which do not normally go together, lowered my temperature somewhat.
     Initially the car was the one suffering from the cold. The gear oil was so thick I had great difficulty getting it into reverse to exit the garage and the first few gear changes were not the quietest. But as the car got warmer (and I got colder), things improved markedly – for the car. Gear changes became smoother, with barely a snick. The engine gulped in the cold air almost gratefully, relishing in its increased density and presenting me with that little bit of extra power.
    What is a cold nose and other extremities, when a 40-50 is ‘on song’ and the sun is shining? To quote the bard … “And I drive with a smile on my face”.  Or should that read “… with an icicle on my face?”
PS:  A big thank you to my regular readers, but there are not enough of you to warrant an advertiser giving money to a charity.  I will go on writing, at least for a while, so do spread the word and raise the readership numbers. It costs nothing.
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