orangeLJ

resident commodore sticker upper reporting in! I'm always biased I know, but in all honesty, Ive had several high km commodores (from VKs-VTs) and they have never been a problem. Its always the old addage of "treat it like shit and it becomes it" All cars will have dramas if they are abused and ill maintained. My parents VS commodore (executive model) had 300k kms on the clock when they sold it to my brother (who had just onsold his 500k km VL which was still running fine) and he thrashed the balls off the VS for another 100,000kms and then sold it off again. In that time, It broke sway bar link pins (common) and had the usual new shocks and general services. towards the end began using a small amount of oil, but was fine. My great aunt had a VB SLE, blue 202 5 speed. Between her and my great uncle, they put close to a million kays on the thing before they sold it, without ever having a major mechanical fault. My VK calais (injected black 202, worst of the bunch) had 250+ on engine and body, I had it for 30,000kms and never had a drama. Even my VR that was thrashed to shit by the owner before me (bought it cheap) never had many dramas. (biggest thing was the gearbox shitting itself) My VT now has 250,000 kms on the clock (just under 100,000kms from me) and its purring along, engine runs fine, doesnt use any oil or water. Ive replaced the transmission and the diff centre, aswell as inlet manifold gaskets and a centre bearing on the tailshaft and thats it. (half of those were because it was a flood write-off car) don't get me wrong, Ive had some shocker commodores come through aswell, I had a VR that hadnt had the oil changed in over 150 thou. that engine would barely run, to half lexcen/commodore abortions with no seatbelts and an interior that smelt like a homeless mans nut sack, The early injected 5 litres had their problems engine wise, just like the early (series 1) LS1 engines that consumed piston rings at will and used oil like crazy) I just think its very unfair to categorise them all in the same boat, usually people end up with broken bits of shit because they are too cheap to pay the extra money to find a well maintained car or they get taken for a ride, Hell Karlie got taken for a ride with her first AE92 SX corolla (drank oil) Every manufacturer has their weak points with their cars and all it takes is inconsiderate pricks or simply bad luck to make them a hell of a lot more noticeable.

well there you go, I don't usually take much notice of any laws that don't apply to me (ie. p plates L plates etc.)

The loss of licence on redPs thing is only a recent (ie last year or so) thing isnt it?

yeah you can appeal to have a probationary period in most states, but f@$k that up and it doubles the penalty. so 20 kays over loses your licence in SA? was only 3 points here in NSW until about a month ago I think, I got done twice on my green Ps and still had one point left (Eventually lost my licence though, now on my blacks, so 12 full points)

I thought I made a post in here yesterday responding to the question about the dog? ohh well. WGMG is how someone can surrender this dog to the pound- She is extremely well trained and obedient, very loving. shes 11 years old, from the way she walks, her snout and general appearance, id say she is most likely purebred GS. Before we decided to adopt her I went and checked her out for hip/leg problems etc But she can run jump, gallop, jump some more with out any problems. Jumped clean into the back of the ute (the white VU in the background of the first photo) with the tailgate up...... here I am thinking being an old dog she wouldnt jump our little front fence!

WGMG is having to wait until tomorrow to pick up our new dog :P we did over the pounds and the RSPCA on the weekend looking for a pup or young dog but didnt find anything. Instead we are picking up an old dog to give her a good home for the rest of her days :P 11yo german shephard cross, great personality, quite and loving. she is awesome! picking her up tomorrow morning ;) I can't wait! While we were at the RSPCA we found out it cost $350 to adopt a dog under 12months! JEEEEZUS! I understand they have to make $$ to pay for what they do, but that is alot of money, its even $150 for a kitten, then you have to pay to get them registered too! don't get me wrong, love what they do, but there is no way we can afford that for a pup!

:P

every worker is entitled to one extra public holiday per year (all those covered under govt awards) Metal workers holiday was on the tuesday just gone, mechanics have "picnic day" and most occupations have others. OR if your employer is fine with it, you can take it another day (eg. I'm taking mine next monday) as a paid holiday day. :jamie: WGMG is death.

we had my whole family turn up as a surprise at our house for easter breakfast. We invited my parents and karlies dad, and then they all showed up! although it was a pleasant surprise (they brought their own breakfast and stuff) so we had a nice first family get together at the new house. bit of a warm up for the housewarming this weekend!

Speedway is one of the best and most under-rated and underfunded motorsport categories in Australia. Ive been going since I was about 8 years old (during speedway season we used to be there every saturday night for the 5 months or so) Old man used to race V8 dirt modifieds, friends of ours race sprintcars so we pit for them, just building up a street stocker to go have some dirty fun again!

I don't know the pin to one of my debit mastercards... so If I use it I just click credit and sign for it, much better :dance: and credit cards are wonderful if you have the money to pay them off straight away. Its people who use it as a monetary extension that f@$k up.

not that far north, its just outside of Ballina, about 6-7 hours (give or take) north of sydney. Trav is from coffs harbour, its still about an hour drive for him though.

we are almost at that point here. They had a "voluntary leave reduction program" last month. Pretty much told everyone they needed to take 4 days of annual leave in the month to make the balance sheet look better (for those who don't know, the company (not sure if its law or just good policy) must maintain enough cash assets to cover ALL outstanding leave hours of all employees) Sick leave is something they would now be looking at as it falls under the same umbrella of funds. I did my bit by being crook on monday :dance: ohhh and on the sick leave thing still, I would NEVER reduce my sick leave to zero, thats just stupid. Unexpected things happen (accidents, getting crook, needing an operation etc) and as Luke said, you can usually manage to gain a few days extra if you need it aslong as you havent abused the system previously. Annual leave days RDOs and public holidays are the days to sit back and enjoy being payed to have the day off, sick days are (generally, I'm guilty of using one or two a year for alternative things) for being sick.

Thats why I love full time employment. Paid Holidays, sick leave and public holidays.

not getting everything done! You know the days you plan out a bunch of stuff that you need/want to get done, think it all over in your head, write a list and deem that there is more then enough time to get it all done.. Then you end up in a rush, the weather f@$ks you up and you get 3/4 of it done knowing its going to now all move into your nice long weekend and make you busy for the whole time! Ive got two cars (my VT and Karlies seca) that need new engine mounts (two in the VT, front centre on karlies) commodore needs a service, and I have ALOT of shit to finish around the house before our housewarming party! stress stress stress!

your neck is a bit sore too hey. might need a bit more$$ for it... Seriously though, Rear enders are always bad for the neck/back. Did you get yourself checked out for whiplash or anything?

don't forget a granny blanket.

WGMG Is halfway to work thismorning realising that no matter how much I was convinced it was Friday in my mind and wondering why the radio didnt have the usual friday topics on the morning show, it is actually Thursday and the stuff I had planned for Saturday that I got all excited about is actually still another day away. dammit.

So many bad taste comments came to mind then! What is it?

yup. April fools.

I got a letter today that made me think of something for this thread. roadside assistance! Not for the actual blokes mechanical aptitude (or lack thereof) but for their tools. I joined an NRMA program called "free2go" when I was like 17. It gave me free roadside assistance until I was 19 years old, (to a limit of 4 calls per year I think) I only ever used it once whe I was 18, stuck in the basement carpark of the resort we were staying at for schoolies with a crook Ider pulley on my VR commodores. The belt slipped off, and all I had was a shifter that wanted to strip the bolt. rang the NRMA line (RACQ cover their clients out of state) and when the bloke turned up, I just stole his 18mm ring spanner and a few other tools and he sat and watched me. would have been screwed without it.

all you have to do is have a looksee at some of the project cars on here (not pointing fingers in anyones direction though) and see some of the "dangerous" modifications that come up. Its never usually my driving I'm worried about, its everyone else around me. Its always the unknowns. I know that I can comfortably take X corner at X speed without any hassle, but if Y asshole is driving the other way running two wheels on the centre line....... well, lets just say Id be f@$ked royally.

came to work today and sat down, saw a hair poking out from behind my keyboard, went to pull it (looked like a long hair stuck under the keyboard) and it turned out to be a cockroaches antenna thingo.... My desk is spottless, and in all the years Ive worked here Ive never seen a cockroach. Bastard tried to attack me too! He now resides in the bottom of the bin with his insides on the out.

I raced at raleigh kart track a fair bit years ago, trying to get into some enduros up there this year too. I spent pretty much every saturday night for the summer months perched on the hill at Newcastle speedway. My old man raced V8 dirt modifieds, was always good fun, was a crying shame to see it shut down. What really grinds my gears is the fact Newcastle council knocked back the proposed drag strip/motorplex plans. WSID is too far for newy people to go, and Hell, Id rather go to newcastle where there wouldnt be as many fully sicks. The govt just goes the wrong way with all their "preventative measures" whether its driving, drugs or alchohol, they just can't get it right.

are you sure its them rattling? try wedging something (rubber, cardboard etc) under the sides and see if the rattle continues, could save you some hassle if it turns out they arent the source of the noise.