On Saturday, Nige and I drove to Jeff's to take him to look at several cars he'd found advertised on line. On reaching the first dealership on the Bridgwater Road with the help of my Satnav, we were told that the car in question -- a blue Vauxhall Zafira 7-seater -- wasn't due to arrive (from London) until the following Monday. Check!
Our next port of call was Hanham, a borough of Bristol I'd heard of but never visited. Again, TomTom took us there quite effortlessly, although it did seem a rather long way out of town. Here we were looking for a green late-model Volvo, which we eventually found at the very back of the lot, so close to the fence that Jeff couldn't open the back hatch to check out the extra seats. However, it didn't matter as we soon ascertained there were no extra seats.
'I'd swear it said 7-seater in the ad!' Jeff maintained as we left.
Back to the drawing board!
'That's it then, except... where's Frome?' Jeff asked, studying his iPhone and pronouncing the town's name so that it rhymed with Rome. (Actually the way the locals say the name, you'd think the spelling should be such that it rhymes with broom.)
After phoning to make sure the dealership would be open by the time we got there and to ascertain that the car in question was still for sale -- check! -- Nige took over the driving, while I sat back and enjoyed the marvellous scenery of Somerset. And at the end of the cross-country drive we reached our reward: a very tidy 7-seater Vauxhall Zafira, one year newer than the London/Bristol one.
After a thorough examination of the car and a short test drive, Jeff quickly made his decision.
'Sign me up!' he said. Check mate!
Our next port of call was Hanham, a borough of Bristol I'd heard of but never visited. Again, TomTom took us there quite effortlessly, although it did seem a rather long way out of town. Here we were looking for a green late-model Volvo, which we eventually found at the very back of the lot, so close to the fence that Jeff couldn't open the back hatch to check out the extra seats. However, it didn't matter as we soon ascertained there were no extra seats.
'I'd swear it said 7-seater in the ad!' Jeff maintained as we left.
Back to the drawing board!
'That's it then, except... where's Frome?' Jeff asked, studying his iPhone and pronouncing the town's name so that it rhymed with Rome. (Actually the way the locals say the name, you'd think the spelling should be such that it rhymes with broom.)
After phoning to make sure the dealership would be open by the time we got there and to ascertain that the car in question was still for sale -- check! -- Nige took over the driving, while I sat back and enjoyed the marvellous scenery of Somerset. And at the end of the cross-country drive we reached our reward: a very tidy 7-seater Vauxhall Zafira, one year newer than the London/Bristol one.
After a thorough examination of the car and a short test drive, Jeff quickly made his decision.
'Sign me up!' he said. Check mate!
Now won't it be fun for us trying to drive it on the "wrong" side of the road? Must have the video camera rolling for the first ride!
ReplyDeleteLOL, yeah that's what I was thinking. Just remember, if it feels right then you probably have to move to the other side of the road. :)
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to imagine driving on the left. I think I'll be OK. I looked over the rules of the road today, and I see why Canada and the UK have reciprocal driver's-license agreements; many of the signs, road markings, and driving rules are the same.
ReplyDelete