not nice hire car

Hired  car from Heathrow last week...a young man spent a while trying to persuade me to pay around £15 a day to reduce the damage waiver, it sounded like they would charge me the whole £650 for the slightest damage so I asked if I did the kind of scratch a garage might charge me £20 for would I be charged £650, no I wouldn'tt he said. Then after a pause told me that that kind of scratch would be likely to be charged at £200. Stunned I still did not pay the extra, took my keys and headed out to the car to see a bit more than my idea of a £20 scratch; a multiple mess to the wheel arch. Flattened arch detail, a dent, a lot of white undercoat showing and some black under other scratches. It was not marked on the damage record sheet, I walked around the car to see another small dent further back and numerous scratches several through to metal. 

That would cost more than £20 but was not marked...Not really through the paint we wouldn't charge for that.

mmmm looks like two colours showing there to me...ok I will mark it.

A dent..not really...a dent...OK its a dent....

My idea of more than £20 again

 And again

 Ok he marked three of them I have another 8 photos of the other ones but I won't bore you any more with paint pics, I was getting really late to pick Jen up now so opened the door. Peeeuuw dogsmell and yuk something spilled down the door lining.

 Ah at least the dogs were in the back not the front, dirty seat belts and plastic trim and dog hairs on the seat.

 And dog hairs, crumbs, general stickyness ...

 That doesn't look too bad just double click and view full size a mo, chocolate, fizzy drink spills, stickyness and loads of crumbs and grime.

 Thats just the kind of stuff that happens, its hard not to get into a car with mud on your feet at this time of year...It has not bee cleaned; I am not happy...Its the only one we have got.

So now, 40mins later than I hoped to leave, I gave up, took the car and noticed the steering wheel was sticky as I drove away shuddering.

Pascal

I heard some readings from teenage diaries on the radio then a few days later found a bit from one of mine.


A response to Pascal’s wager.


Love is not worship 
not ritual of blood and wine
nor offering of silver of gold
these are just the things we can use
to make us feel fine.
Waste no time on praise
pay no heed to artifice
more important by far is
a gift of laughter offered in silence
a smile to ease the tears of a child 
a hand held out to a stranger in need
love pays no heed to reward.


Together 
We play life’s game on a field of infinite truths; why use your truth to separate ‘us’ into ‘me' and 'you’?
I is I and I will I stay, neither will I stop you being you.
You say choose this and blindly follow Abraham’s God, If I do there is nothing to lose and all to gain.
You dismiss all others as inferior – what if you are wrong?
You use probability to enforce behaviour; is faith something we can choose to choose? 
I should live my life as if your god exists, just in case he does; would my poor acting deceive your god?
I offer you the wager I will test: If I spend time being and doing good, if I measure my life by the laughter and joy I bring into the lives of others then if your god or any god exists they will approve regardless of my lack of ritual.

Out and about by the sea

Lovely start to the day I slept in but I have been up til 4ish for a few nights so i deserved it. 

I did a couple of hours of strimming then had to go get some strimmer stuff in Valdovino, the sea looked good so I headed over to Pantin and it was good. 

Baleo was breaking outside, that is pretty big but doesn't look it, big as in if our Delica could float you could fit a couple of them in tandem driving up the face of the wave.

Its not easy pointing the camera the right way when driving and why do tracks never look bumpy or steep on video? 

 Spent the rest of the morning strimming then went out to Vilarrube to meet Sam, Mel and Lorena. Here is a view from the top of the hill for a change. I got to the bottom just as they arrived on the other road.

 And the big empty space down below

 What look like ripples when viewed from the dunes are rather wonderful just the right size for winter waves.

 It was hard to pick out which one was Sam but this one definitely is.

 Hi 5

 Over on the cliffs just North of Baleo the sky was wonderful.

and the cliffs were wonderful

More waves not looking as big as they were. The passing seagulls are a few tens of meters in front of me  the waves are 300 meters to several kilometres away.