CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[Skull]

…..No dispute. I was 7 minutes over so it was a fair cop

We had a great time so paying the parking fine was well worth it

Blimey 8 minutes for £50 I think I would try to appeal as well, period of grace, old car, old man, family visit, your annual pass, all the details you can think of as these are sometimes just computer generated automatically…

On first appearance I thought you’d entered a classic rally and were coming to a ‘2 left into sharp hairpin right over crest DON’T CUT ….

[mickthemaverick]

If it's private land you don't have to display a registration plate !! Just saying

[MattBLancs]

If it's private land you don't have to display a registration plate !! Just saying

I'm my defense your honour, that image could have been any one of the red AXs that came onto the car park that day!

[Zelandeth]

The one which got me not long ago was the Rooksley B&Q. They have all the usual blather of conditions on their parking signs - the one I never twigged was "No return within two hours."

The place is literally five minutes from here which is about the only reason I ever used it, and I realised on getting back I'd forgotten one of the things I needed for the job I was doing. Cue parking fine dropping through the post a couple of weeks later. Suffice to say I've not been back since.

The setup in the Centre is the same - which also means that if you realise you're running later and your original session has expired that you're stuffed as you can't then start a new one for the same reg number - it won't let you. So if you need to go to either of these places in quick succession, remember to take two different cars or to activate the 007 style rotating number plates before entering the car park.

It's all blatant profiteering on the part of the "parking management companies" anyway, which grates immensely. We had a couple of car parks managed by one of the large firms back up north - in addition to them pocketing the revenue and the fines, the council also PAID them to manage the car park - management in this case seemed to be summarised as "completely ignored at all times." At least when those contracts expired we took over management internally so the revenue was actually going to the council. Sadly not ring fenced in any way so it just disappeared into a black hole, but better that than the pockets of that lot.

Managing to get the money from the bus lane enforcement cameras to actually be ring fenced for public transport projects was one of the big feeling achievements in my time there - and that did actually make a difference as we had so little in the way of revenue budget to work with for infrastructure maintenance. A few oil company execs who don't bat an eyelid at £60 a pop to save themselves five minutes sitting in a queue a few times a week was something I was definitely not going to complain about when that was enough to keep up with maintenance on three or four bus shelters for the same week.

That was fifteen years ago, so no idea if it's still the case now. I'd guess not judging from how run down things looked last time I was in the area. Sad to see given how much I'd managed to get the maintenance side of things caught up while I was there from the disaster in inherited when I started the job.

The budget I had to work with in the latter days was ~£40K a year for maintenance. Which works out to about £30 a site a year. A single smashed window in a bus shelter was about £150 for polycarbonate or £300 for glass, a timetable panel was about £200 to quote the two most commonly vandalised things. Visit from the graffiti removal team would be £75-150 depending on how long it took them to sort anything. Somewhere in there I needed to also find money to have all 1256 sites inspected at least somewhat regularly, have electrical inspections and certification done at sites where we had power, get the old shelters which needed it painted periodically, have things cleaned - and of course deal with all of the other damages, life expired equipment, traffic accidents etc that happened through the year. It was always a challenge. I did see it as a victory though in that when I started the job I inherited a budget roughly double what I ended on which was overspent every year and a bunch of things weren't being fixed - yet by the time I left we were pretty much fully on top of the situation and were usually able to squeeze new hardware for a couple of sites out of it by the end of the year. Was a great demonstration that vandalism breeds vandalism - if you fix everything quickly they get bored as they can't brag to their mates about it and will go find something else to do. BT apparently hated me though as apparently their phone boxes were next in line so the kids moved on to those when they stopped kicking in my bus shelters every weekend! I wish MK Council would learn the same lesson rather than taking a year plus to fix routine things - and half the time closing the report without actually doing anything. It's funny how you can make your performance indicators look better when you just outright lie about repairing anything... that's a rant for another day though. I've already dragged this far enough off topic!

[Stickyfinger]

If it's private land you don't have to display a registration plate !! Just saying

"Full public access".....so yes you do, same with MOT/Insurance.

You do not have to give the drivers name nor do you have to admit any liability (unlike what they say in that letter).....it is a whole lot of trouble for them to make a charge against the "registered keeper".

[mickthemaverick]

Thanks Alasdair I hadn't realised the law about 'public places' on private land. Very interesting, more info here if anyone is interested!!

[CitroJim]

I'm away on holiday down by the seaside for a few days enjoying some much needed R&R in the only place on this planet I properly feel at home

Whilst I'm away, the entire world and all in it can go forth and multiply...

[CitroJim]

Back home from my little holiday - which sadly did very little to improve my overall wellbeing although I thoroughly enjoyed the change of scenery

I continue to be quite unwell and this latest relapse is very much ongoing with very little sign of much resolution so far.

That said, I've been able to give Bluebell a check-over ready for her return to the road at the start of April and that's something I'm really looking forward to Hopefully petrol will still be available by then!

On advice, I'm currently doing the minimum of driving and only driving where absolutely necessary. I'm also currently unable to run or ride my bike. Yes, it's that bad. Cognitively I'm not good and only have a few hours early in the day when I'm reasonably bright. Hence only early morning visits to this forum.

That said, I've been keeping myself occupied pottering around in the garden, spending time with family and friends and playing around with photography. I've finally got around to doing my own colour processing with some success

Speaking of the garden, it's really coming to life after its winter slumbers. Last autumn, James (Hellrazor of this forum) gave me some alpine strawberry plants. They are really thriving Thanks James!

[MattBLancs]

Get well soon Jim, I hope you can find enjoyment in what you can do more than annoyance at what you (only presently) cannot

[CitroJim]

Get well soon Jim, I hope you can find enjoyment in what you can do more than annoyance at what you (only presently) cannot

Thanks Matt Happily, I'm fining enough to keep me well amused. Time will do the necessary to see me good again...

[Hell Razor5543]

Get well soon, Jim, and if you cannot do that, get well properly!

[aerodynamica]

Back home from my little holiday - which sadly did very little to improve my overall wellbeing although I thoroughly enjoyed the change of scenery

I continue to be quite unwell and this latest relapse is very much ongoing with very little sign of much resolution so far.

That said, I've been able to give Bluebell a check-over ready for her return to the road at the start of April and that's something I'm really looking forward to Hopefully petrol will still be available by then!

On advice, I'm currently doing the minimum of driving and only driving where absolutely necessary. I'm also currently unable to run or ride my bike. Yes, it's that bad. Cognitively I'm not good and only have a few hours early in the day when I'm reasonably bright. Hence only early morning visits to this forum.

That said, I've been keeping myself occupied pottering around in the garden, spending time with family and friends and playing around with photography. I've finally got around to doing my own colour processing with some success

Speaking of the garden, it's really coming to life after its winter slumbers. Last autumn, James (Hellrazor of this forum) gave me some alpine strawberry plants. They are really thriving Thanks James!

Hi Jim, sorry to hear you're unwell. I miss updates , never really got on board with the blogs section - always kind of see FCF as a tech forum but saw your update. Wish you all the best, Graeme in Glasgow ex CX column in the Citroenian

[Huskyxantia]

Ive just read the letter Jim got regarding that parking issue
As we have no record of a parking payment on the day of question
The duration exceeded the period paid for ? (So they say you paid here)
Then is states paragraph 9 2 b section 4 they state the driver has to pay they then claim they don't know the name of the driver ?

Wasn't you then Jim someone else used the car and paid ....

Sorry but reading the letter it looks very suspicious

[Zelandeth]

Has anyone heard from our Jim recently? Bit worrying not to have seen anything from him in so long. Don't want to be harassing him unnecessarily through messaging services though if he's just having a rough patch and has had to disconnect for a while.

[myglaren]

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