Ever had one of those days (or couple of days) where things life takes a bit of a surprising turn? Well, that just about sums up the past two days.
The simple plan for Friday was delivery of a new fridge, return of my car in place of my other half's little red car. I'd got a meeting in London, so wasn't expecting to be there for most of it, just come home to find a) a new fridge in the kitchen and b) my car in place of my other half's.
It must have been about 4:30pm on Thursday when there was a knock at the door - the fridge was being delivered a day early! Cue a bout of car and furniture shuffling to make space to get the fridge into the kitchen. My other half's red car was moved on the driveway to make room - it was after the delivery driver took a look at it he said "so, is it an Abarth?" 10 out of 10 for spotting that on the sump! One cup of tea and a lot of careful shuffling, one fridge was in the kitchen and there had been a bit of general discussion about the car.
Friday was the day for the return of my car. We weren't 100% sure what time Stef was likely to arrive, so we were looking out the window every time a car drove into our street. At about 2:30pm, a taxi pulled up .We assumed it was going to one of our neighbours, but I could see the passenger pointing to our house. A man got up and came running up to the house. My other half opened the door and the man said "are you waiting for Stef?"
It turned out that Stef was bringing some spares with him and had agreed to meet up somewhere between our house and London. The recipient of the parts, Tim, had beaten Stef to our house. Well, there was only one thing to do - invite him in for a cup of tea. Tim's 500 is Right Hand Drive and Tahiti Yellow (its original colour). It also has the same 5 speed box as mine. This was the reason for the spare parts - the car wasn't staying in 1st gear and was making some rather unpleasant noises. On further investigation, it turned out that there was damage to the main cogs in the gear box. Stef was bringing the replacement parts and Tim's Jubilee weekend (or at least part of it) was going to be spent replacing and repairing it.
Stef arrived about 3pm - traffic out of London was a nightmare (Friday afternoon, Jubilee - not ideal). My car looked and drove beautifully - the idle problems had been dealt with (back to a mechanical rather electronic control) and everything had generally been tightened up after a bit of bedding in. Stef still reckons there are a few more things to do - he's a bit of a perfectionist and there are one or two bits he's still not happy with, so he'll be wanting it back at some point. It'll be a few weeks or so - the other half's car has one or two bits to sort out and Stef is off to Monza this weekend for the Coppa Intereuropa to look after a rather nice Abarth, so he's as busy as always.
Well, it's a long (extra long 4 day!) weekend - and I know 3 people who will be busy with Fiats. One will be fixing a gearbox, one will be making sure an Abarth stays on track and (hopefully) comes back with a trophy and one will be quite happy to have her car and be driving around in it. Have a good Jubilee weekend, whatever you're up to!
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