I must say that it is a joy to be back at the boat for a rest. We hired a car on Saturday last and all three of us went home. That is the first time ever that one of us hasn't been left on the boat! As soon as we were back the rush started. There was three months of gardening to catch up with. I had meetings and dentists appointments, visits to relations and so on and on. It was great to see every one and to get home just before our son flew out to Brazil.
We had a Toyota Aygo that was pretty tiny but managed to get all the junk that we were taking home in and get from Newbury to Hull in just over four hours.
Some of the stuff we took home was my waste oil, to take to the tip, and four old 110Ah batteries. I managed to find several scrap dealers that take them and the price seemed to be about £350 per tonne. I had been charged earlier about £450 but of course the price goes up and down depending on the state of the metal markets. The weight, including the acid, was just over 100kg so I made a little over £35 pounds, paid straight into my account. So don't take your batteries to the tip, find a scrap dealer as that is better in your pocket than the councils.
On the way home we went up the A34, M40, M42, M1, M18, M62 and A63. We followed the same route back until the M1 when they were saying that the M42 had severe delays so we carried on down to Northampton and then the A43 to the M40 near Oxford and then down to Newbury on the A34. Sounds quite boring but the interesting thing was that it took the same length of time each way. Luckily there were accidents but all on the north lane.
Once back we unloaded and then had a cup of tea. The boat had a bit of a port list but luckily it was just aground on a lump forward and was soon straightened up. We then went to to Tesco's to do a shop. We didn't need the car as the shops is very close. After that we walked back in to town as we need the bank. Whilst there we went to The Hatchet, J.D. Weatherspoon's, and in the end decided to have a steak and kidney pudding.
Talking of the hire car the seem to have sorted out the 'extras' that you used to have piled on you. Mind you they did offer add ons to cover the excess tyres etc. but the money to do so was nearly half of the rental. Insurance is just that, but I suppose I gambled and refused them all. One 'rip off' that still seems to be there is that of the fuel. I saw that if they top up the car the rate per litre is a lot higher than if you did it your self. Mind you that wasn't the thing that bothered me. I haven't hired a car for many years and they always used to be full. We got out of Newbury and on the way when the fuel alarm came on! Even that would be okay but my beef is the fact that how on earth do you get it back to the hire base with exactly the same amount of fuel in than when you picked it up unless it is full? Also when I checked the rental agreement there was no level in the tank marked so leaving it open to the base to say that you didn't have enough fuel in it. Everybody will almost certainly have too much fuel in it. Granted the winner isn't really the Rental company as it is just there for the next people, unless they syphon it off. They will make money if it is returned with less fuel in as they can charge a higher fuel charge.
It is just good to be back on the boat and we will be back on the move tomorrow, but not very far.
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