[Richard]

Another angle on insurance and cars https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-46947542 where a car was sold as a total loss against all agreements to the contrary. I guess the warning is not to trust an insurance company to get things right.

Perhaps it is just pure getting it wrong after all that causes so many issues?

[Richard]

I am sorry a typo slipped in to my message, I should have written £6000, not £600.

I agree that the labour costs are a frequent killer, but with repair estimates costing of the order of £4000 ~£4500 I have seen cars declared not worth repairing when the payout is still well clear of £6000. The insurance company also recover their marginal cost via adjustments to their future premiums.

While I appreciate your knowledge of the trade Bob, the feed back I have had from those and other cases suggests that not only can ‘off insurance repairs’ be far lower than their insurance quotes, but that the residual sale value of the vehicle as is is a insurance company consideration. BER are cat 3 or cat 4 are they not?

Yes Ed with the increasing number of air bags they can both do indirect damage, but also in some cars destroy seats and headlining, etc,in which they are mounted and other costly parts, such as dashboards. I understood undamaged items along with e.g. catalysts can attract a premium from a dismantler’s customers.

Today’s low spot, a very long and slow running ‘road improvement scheme’ has been in progress for three years, (it looks set to take the same again if not longer to ‘improve about 500 yards) with blanket 30 mph limits shown by signs nearly a metre in diameter, to protect the rarely-there workers. Understandably all affected roads are reduced to single carriageway. The idiot in the wrong roundabout lane having found his road position error, decided that speed limits should not apply to his stupid being so did a war dance on his lights and pathetic horn to show his displeasure at being limited to 30mph, oh how I wish I had a drive-cam to put his ignorant show up for all to see. No Duke or other establishment figure involved just a stupid white van fool.

[Richard]

A one time student friend and later colleague of my daughter encountered the sun in the eyes problem after cresting a hill or rounding a bend and losing the shade of some nearby trees. They drove head on into another car and wrote their car off. I was very surprised to hear they had not been charged and were back on the road in a new car a week or so later. I m aware that the level of damage required to write off a car is surprisingly small these days.

Two you ladies had unfortunate encounters with life. One slide her car off the private drive of a local hospital into a ditch, not the first one to do that had her car pulled out and despite considerable damage front, radiator and side the thing was privately repaired and back on the road two weeks later. Someone else reversed into a parking lot pillar, turned the job over to the insurance and the car was written off. The problem could well be that it is more cost effective to declare a total loss for say a £600 car and well off the remains through a parts breaker where the undamaged doors, engine and gear box, seats, headlights, etc. can earn much more than that £600.

It is a complex world.

I guess that Land Rover were pleased to find a way to shift another vehicle given their declared sales woes.

[Richard]

Has anyone blamed the Kia driver? I specifically used the word innocent in respect of that vehicle; everyone is free to draw their own conclusion as to which out of the two drivers appears at fault. Though only the justice system can weigh evidence and assign judicial actions. (Special interest statement, I drive both Kias and Hondas, but not Land or Range Rovers.)

Your widely reported quotes confirm that no cover up has taken place; that was the original point at issue.

Drive to arrive alive and Drive to the conditions not your desires appear to reflect perhaps not widely enough shared ‘common ground’.

The police are reported as being unhappy that cameras are not installed in the area years after they were first requested.

[Richard]

@dwynnehugh, I don’t know, you might get one for honesty!

[Richard]

If that was what the report said then I call fantasy; why would the Duke’s vehicle turn over prior to impact? The version which makes sense is that the Duke failed to stop continued out and was hit in the side by the other, (innocent) car driver causing the Duke’s vehicle to overturn and slide and spin before ending up off the road. The Kia, the other car made a more graceful upright passage to the same side of the road.

That he has emerged as very likely the guilty party, (sorry sub judice rule applies I should be careful) is not in dispute, the allegations of a lack of reports were being disputed, those allegations were clearly not supported by reality. Several reports today continue to analyse the scene in great detail backed by witness statements.

As for your concern about the comment about the sun, I wrote that, ‘While not a valid legal cause of misjudgement’; note, I accept that it can cause errors to be made and errors are what cause accidents and legal cases. For my part I would and did slow down for the conditions so error 1 might have been not adjusting speed for the conditions and error 2 was likely (sorry sub judice rule again applies) passing a stop sign, that familiarity should have made a driver aware of.

However, the matter should and needs to be decided by a court according to law not by declamation by the partially briefed, -that includes me.

[Richard]

Every news organ I have seen has reported it with prominence given to all of the angles. The believable contributory factory was said to be the low and very bright sun on the day in question. While not a valid legal cause of misjudgement, i.e. errors leading to accidents or not, I found the sun challenging on the day in question and thus requiring extra care. The incident is still making ‘front page news’ on ‘Nationals’ today and yes, even on the BBC News website. I cannot understand how anyone could have missed it, unless they did not see or hear Specsavers calling them, perhaps are HRH DOE himself or another caught out driver, (I saw a few of them).

One report suggested that the speed limit in the area was under review and that other steps were under consideration, i.e. automatic tax collectors.

[Richard]

I had used a false date and forgotten what it was before moving it closer to ‘real time’.

[Richard]

I understand that most (all?) date to some time(s) before 2015, so if you have updated your e-mail since then you should /may be in the clear.

[Richard]

I had a version of the flu that has been doing the rounds and avoiding interception or blocking by the vaccination, the one that once it arrives does not want to leave resulting in a hacking cough that went on for three weeks along with quite severe sinus issues. That one is only now coming to a close.
I then made the unfortunate step of taking a previously prescribed blood pressure pill, boy did the side effects kick in. Most were not welcomed, though one has been oddly beneficial. Most were also masked by other, post flu ‘events’ so it took a few days to cotton on to the probable cause. The positive one has remained since I stopped taking them but most of the other issues ‘which planet am I on and why do I tend to fall over’ have now abated. They did make daily hospital trips ‘different’ though just as tiring.
Yesterday we had rain and he traffic went potty. The day before a motorcyclist came off very second best in a collision with a hit and run driver, as yet untraced.
Yesterday two appointments in two hospitals, the first just left enough time to get to radio therapy, but the consultant was an hour late for what turned out to be a right damp squib of a meeting though the radiotherapy went well. Today it was an hour late starting due to ‘undisclosed problems’ Pre-rush hour driving on the way back left everything to be desired, apparently Suzuki Jeep drivers do not need to heed 50 mph limits and can use their special reserved motorway lanes marked with the special hatchings? That was a new one on me, I just kept well out of the way and let them, and many others play so we arrived home very tired but safe and well.
I shall take those blood pressure pills to the pharmacy and remove the risk of another experience.
So nothing too much really, and none of it too wonderful either. We have continued to meet some really nice people at the hospital, though one or two have some really terrible life stories over which one can only sympathise.

[Richard]

Thank you to all who responded, it has been a challenging week and I have not logged in for a while. I will explain a bit more later, now I am off to get my wife to her next radiotherapy session.

[Richard]

Ed P wrote:

Richard your observation on ethnicity and ailments is very true but something that is whispered rather than given a full airing for fears that it may be racist.Cancer Research has some broad brush stats. An Indian doctor friend said it was observed that people from the sub-continent suffer more circulatory diseases than others but the NHS never takes it into account when screening,

One of the real elephants in the room is that some medications are not suitable or are largely ineffective for some racial or ethnic groups. This unfortunate fact also applies to others within the otherwise treatable spectrum of patients. Some will respond, some will respond poorly and some will not respond at all, however, as you suggest exploring this issue is a taboo from which the politically incorrect will shout off all comers. Some theories suggest that the difference might be down to hereditary where immunities to some conditions may have evolved at the price of opening up reduced immunity to others. There is also the issue of each person’s biome causing differences in digestion and food processing capabilities with sometimes unwanted effects. I am aware of published data showing that some conditions are over and under represented within some groups.

[Richard]

How very true, in times of real personal troubles there is not ‘them and me’ it becomes just ‘us’. The stress has to be relieved somehow and humour including dark or black* humour is certainly the best way. Those undergoing radio for prostrate troubles joined in as freely as the rest with other forms – and this included the partners. One thing I did notice was that most of those with prostrate cancer were dark skinned, in contrast to those with other cancers who were more equally spread across ethnicities, though many spoke heavily accented English. The take-a-way is that everyone is equal and there can be a cancer or other serious illness for everyone.

*Denotes the tone of the joking NOT the race or ethnicity.

[Richard]

Bob, I agree with your bitter comment on Maplin, a good idea but wreaked by financial stupidity. Potentially hugely profitable and with a real chance of being a useful addition to the hobbiest’s tool box, it became a financial black hole. Loaded with ever more high interest and totally pointless debit as each previous owner sold on to another foolish ‘investor’ who saw only the gross margin that was being made, not realising that a 60~75% margin was being swallowed by the interest that ensured a no hope situation.

Our local PC World has been a right ‘curates egg’, cheaper than Maplin sometimes holding interesting or useful stock, but with a staff who ranged between mildly helpful at the good end to rather dumb sales pushers and commission hunter/harvesters at the other. As Dave said, most are technically devoid of anything useful.

[Richard]

Sorry that it was a bit of an initial waste of time, but I do agree that attendance at such things tends to mix two types, keen and gadflies. My wife found this even with her cancer care, some people just did not bother to come after the first or second appointment. One even went as far as to simply bin the injections she was superposed to have for 5 days after each bout of chemo, predictably she did not turn up for her first post operative check up…

I was luckier with most of my group physio session, the crowd who started were keen to recover unlike those you encountered who appeared to treat it as a day out or even a lunch club. Hopefully focus will turn onto really doing things to help; though if the subscription list falls too far the sessions could get cancelled. Sometimes it is not unknown for 6 ~ 10 starters to be one or two after the second week, hopefully the losers will be the ‘lunch and jollies club members’, who I appreciate sounded like a real pain in the behind. I wish you a better session next time round.

Happily my wife’s radiotherapy appears to have got back on track and I have to say that the whole crowd we have meet there have been really nice people, ready to share situations and concerns tactfully and support each other. It has been a surprisingly uplifting experience, though darned tiring with 50 mile round trips every day except weekends. Sadly, it is obvious that several are drinking at the last chance saloon. After all the research I have done it can be difficult to avoid letting the realisation that a cliff edge is approaching for them, so that is the downside and a stress promoter. You do not know if they are brave, stoic or not really aware and recognising their situation.

[Richard]

Is anyone anywhere that impressed by the direction of their country, much of Russia is not impressed by their ‘leadership’ much of the EU is far from happy, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Germany and so on are all up in arm waving for various reasons, The USA is deeply fractured at the moment while the Fence Builder in Chief has nothing on which to sit at the moment. Drug gangs run riot in London and little or nothing appears to be done to help those in the firing line. Yet still some want to come here, some because they think they can make money out of our soft touch welfare, some because they mistakenly think it is all milk and honey or at least unbounded riches.

In short anti social networking has a lot to answer for stirring up vocal hate loud on noise though short on actual numbers ar content with no benefit to those caught in the firing line.

Face it pootin has a visceral hatred for ‘the west’ and will stop at nothing and has stopped at nothing to do us down, his troll factories are pushing on open doors to sucker in those willing and keen to hanker after the appearance of change, though they have little or no idea what their lusted for change would mean. The only surprise is that pootin’s recent efforts to cover up his malfeasances have been so slow and ham fisted.

Still you will believe what you have already decided and I will not be convinced by his cohorts and canon fodder.

I’m off to the drug war zone of London again in a few moments so will drop it here.

[Richard]

I have a small amount of sympathy for the staff who sold the cable or Ethernet only router rather than an ADSL one since it was almost certainly the cheapest in their shop; the wrong order was, or normally should have been packed more carefully, the store staff should have been able to read the order and see that the goods did not conform to the details and then handled it gracefully. Crap management, crap training and crap supervision, probably another case of pay peanuts get monkeys.

[Richard]

I guess the woman who died from the poisoning episode was also a figment of something or the other? Anyone who does not believe that poo-tin would not stoop to anything well, at least you are currently free to believe as you may wish. That might change should another management take over.

[Richard]

I don’t think I fall into the joint hypermobility group though one daughter does. I was told many years ago that my joints were very free, so would normally dislocate rather than break bones. One knee could and would ‘fall out to order’. So when I had an office accident I both broke my ankle bone and dislocated the foot to somewhere up the leg, ouch.

My wife has a lung condition, at one time thought to be a heart problem for several years until resolved by a simple blood test. She also has mixed connective tissue disease, that one could apply to your joint pain issue as an alternative vector to follow. It is very painful and movement limiting, it needs a form of chemical cosh to control the pains, but the cosh of choice is not thought compatible with her cancer treatment.

Still on the bright side, the radiotherapy went correctly for the first time today, so I happily brought home a drugged zombie, no driving, operating machinery or signing contracts for her for the next few weeks.

[Richard]

That was a pretty grim out turn after all of the waiting about. There does appear to be a growing(?) issue of NHS not knowing how to deal with many pain cases and just ignoring that there could be a problem and blustering through, or trying to score a goal and passing people off to the first outlet that fails to duck. Having failed with the ignore and bluster method applied to my wife on Friday, today she went drugged up on Tramadol, Co-codimol and amitriptyline and, for the first time the session lasted only 20 minutes and radiotherapy was said to have been successfully done, yippee. Only 3 more weeks to go.

Returning to you PM, if your trouble is ‘only’ arthritis, (by ‘only’ I mean if it is just arthritis and not complicated by other issues), that is enough to be going on with, but I do wonder if there are other issues in play. There is not enough effort to take a whole person view of what is going on. I have seen far to much of that to know that looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing, is just not going to end well. Sometimes a few pounds on the right blood tests can and has resolved several years of messing about.

[Author]

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