Corrosive Shame

The AA clearly need some help with their databases - either that or they have too much money.

"Hello the AA, how can we help you?" (I've missed out the tedious AVR system)
"I've got a problem with both my cars"
"Ok, let me take the first one..."
"... and the second one."
"We have to do them as separate calls"

"Erm, ok. Whatever suits you. No need to send two patrols though."

"Oh no, there will just be one patrol."

A few minutes later, a text message telling me the patrol will be with me in 10 minutes (I like this!); then a minute or two later a phone call, telling me the patrol will be with in me in 10 minutes.

A patrol turns up. The nice man steps out, and gets to work on Seaweed. He's messing about with the battery when reinforcements arrive - another van - this one with two patrolmen in it.

The patrols look at each other, slightly amused, then have a car each to play with.

Can't complain eh - first time I've called them out since I joined in 1998 so I should hope for good service.

Oh, and the diagnosis: One completely dead battery & one sheared road spring. The latter is causing an imminent visit to car hospital.

Any mentions of cats should be ignored.

I stopped on the M6, with a clear road in front of me and a queue of traffic behind.

Totally deliberately, as in order to retrieve a cone orphaned on the central reservation a Highways Agency Patrol (high-vis jackets and Subarus rather than tight trousers and Kawasakis) with a blinking "DON'T PASS" sign stopped the entire northbound carriageway. It slowed us down, then stopped. A young man got out, picked up the cone, threw it onto the (coned off) hard shoulder then got back in and drove off at speed with the sign now saying "THANK YOU".

It was faintly surreal.

In other news, I probably have a job and am now unlikely to be made redundant. This is slightly annoying.