Thursday 14 January 2010

The Importance of Being Organised.....

My, we've had a busy couple of days!  We knew that January was going to be a busy month what with car MOT, car insurance renewal, clearing up after the Christmas break and just generally getting back into some form of normality but I have found that it has hit me a bit harder this January - I wonder if I'm the only one?!!

Anyway, we got our car nearly a year ago (we decided to get a sensible family estate) and as the car insurance was due towards the end of the month I had assumed that the MOT would be due around the same time - previous experience has meant that when we've bought a car from a dealership the MOT is usually done only a few days before you pick the car up and then the insurance starts on the day you actually pick it up.  Anyway, following this logic, I thought I had another week or 10 days before I needed to arrange the MOT - WRONG!!!!!  I got the certificate out on Tuesday morning only to discover that it had expired a week ago!  Much panic ensued, we had to get the car booked in straight away!

I managed to get the car booked in and had about an hour before we had to be there, which was plenty of time as the garage is only down the road.  However, Hubby points out that one of the front parking light bulbs had gone and that we'd need to get that replaced before the MOT.  Aaaaarrrggghhh!!!!  Mad rush to get everything we needed for Freya to take out (nappies, wipes, change of clothes, bottle of milk, cup of juice etc etc), get shoes, scarves, gloves and coats on and to put the dogs out in the garden to have a wee.  Why is it that when you're in a rush the dogs REFUSE to go out?!!!!!

Anyway, we manage to bundle in the car, get to Halfords and get the bulb.  By this time we had about 30 minutes before we had to be at the garage - again, not a major problem as the garage is only 5-10 minutes away.  BUT, we still had to actually fit the bulb.  So there we were, in Halfords' car park, bonnet up, Hubby and I looking at the manual to see where and how the bulb actually fits, having to remove the windscreen washer fluid filler tank and something else I can't remember now in order to actually get to the bulb compartment........Hubby's hands being too big to fit in to remove the old bulb, my hands being small enough to get to the old bulb but with absolutely no clue as to what to do to actually get it out...........After 10 minutes I suggested that maybe we just go to the garage and ask them to fit the bulb for us before the MOT - surely it's worth paying someone an extra £5 or something than us both standing here getting confused and stressed out?!!!!  So off we went.

The car passed its MOT (phew!) and all was good.  So, we get ready to get back into the car to go shopping before popping into my Mother-in-Law's as we'd promised when Hubby's face dropped - he couldn't remember putting the windscreen washer filler tank back in the car before we left Halfords!  I had also been in too much of a rush to pay much attention.  So we rush back to the car to check under the bonnet - IT'S NOT THERE!!!  It must have dropped out either at Halfords or on the way to the garage.  I did suggest that we drive back to try and find it, but Hubby pointed out that we'd come along a dual carriageway and that we'd never find it - good point, well made!  So we get on the phone to the Vauxhall dealership in order to see about getting a new one ordered (luckily only a few pounds) and then a drive to the dealership to actually pay for it so that it can be ordered......We should have it by the end of the week (fingers crossed!).

The lesson to be learned from this story is to know exactly when your car is due for its MOT - I've already noted it in my new diary a month before it's due to expire!!

On a more domestic note though, we've inherited a nice little bathroom cabinet from my in-laws, who have bought a new one and were going to throw this away.  I spent a lot of the day yesterday sorting through all of the stuff in our bathroom and putting the "new" cabinet in there.....


I think that it looks quite nice.  Although I  do need to get a laundry basket, so excuse the pile of washing on the floor ;-)

I hope that you're having a lovely week?

1 comment: